Skip to main content

Full text of "England, picturesque and descriptive : a reminiscence of foreign travel"

See other formats 


fMl 


AND 


DESCRIPTIVE 


Frontispiece. 


ALTON    TOWERS. 


ENGLAND, 


PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


REMINISCENCE     OF     FORKIGN     TRAVF,  I,. 


AUTHOR    OF 


By    JOEL    COOK, 

••    "A    HOLIDAY    TOUR    IN    FUROP!,"    "  BRIEF    SUMMFR    RAMBLES,"    ETC. 


38 

OLD   MILL    AT    SELBORNK. 


W 


ITH    NEARLY    FIVE    HUNDRED    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER     AND     C  O  A  T  E  S. 


Copyright 
By    PORTER  &    COATES, 

1882. 


I'llKSS  or    llKNHT   H.   AsllMEAD,    I'llILADA. 
KLKrTKoTYl'EU   11 V    WKSTCOTT  &  THOMSON,    PllILADA. 


JOHN    WALTER,  ESQ., 

Ml  MI11-K   ill-'    PARLIAMENT    1  OR    BERKSHIRE. 

AM) 
PROPRIETOR    OF    TH1-:    I.I'SllllS    TIMES. 

Will)    HAS    DONE   SD    Ml'CH    TO   WELCOME   AMERICANS 
WITH    TRUE    ENGLISH    HOSPITALITY. 

AND    TO 

GIVE   ENGLISHMAN    A    MOKE   ACCL'RATIC    KNOWLEDGE   OF. 

AND    MOKE    INTIMATE    RELATIONS   WITH. 

TIM-:    I'NITKD   STATF-S. 

(This   tttorfe   on   Hsnjlanil, 

IIV    AN    AMERICAN. 
IS   RF.SPI -i    II  I'l.I.V    INSCRIKEI). 


INTRODUCTION. 


NO  land  possesses  greater  attractions  for  the  American  tourist  than  Eng- 
land. It  was  the  home  of  his  forefathers  ;  its  history  is  to  a  great  extent 
the  history  of  his  own  country;  and  he  is  bound  to  it  by  the  powerful  ties  of 
consanguinity,  language,  laws,  and  customs.  When  the  American  treads  the 
busy  London  streets,  threads  the  intricacies  of  the  Liverpool  docks  and  ship- 
ping, wanders  along  the  green  lanes  of  Devonshire,  climbs  Alnwick's  castel- 
lated walls,  or  floats  upon  the  placid  bosom  of  the  picturesque  Wye,  he  seems 
almost  as  much  at  home  as  in  his  native  land.  But,  apart  from  these  con- 
siderations of  common  Anglo-Saxon  paternity,  no  country  in  the  world  is 
more  interesting  to  the  intelligent  traveller  than  England.  The  British  system 
of  entail,  whatever  may  be  our  opinion  of  its  political  and  economic  merits, 
has  built  up  vast  estates  and  preserved  the  stately  homes,  renowned  castles, 
and  ivy-clad  ruins  of  ancient  and  celebrated  structures,  to  an  extent  and 
variety  that  no  other  land  can  show.  The  remains  of  the  abbeys,  castles, 
churches,  and  ancient  fortresses  in  England  and  Wales  that  war  and  time 
together  have  crumbled  and  scarred  tell  the  history  of  centuries,  while  count- 
less legends  of  the  olden  time  are  revived  as  the  tourist  passes  them  in 
review.  England,  too,  has  other  charms  than  these.  British  scenery,  though 
not  always  equal  in  sublimity  and  grandeur  to  that  displayed  in  many  parts 
of  our  own  country,  is  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  has  always  been  a  fruitful 
theme  of  song  and  story. 

"The  splendor  falls  on  castle-walls 

And  snowy  summits  old  in  story: 
The  long  light  shakes  across  the  lakes, 
And  the  wild  cataract  leaps  in  glory.' 

Yet  there  are  few  satisfactory  and  comprehensive  books  about  this   land 


IXTRODUCTION. 


that  is  so  full  of  renowned  memorials  of  the  past  and  so  generously  gifted  by 
Nature.  Such  books  as  there  are  either  cover  a  few  counties  or  are  devoted 
only  to  local  description,  or  else  are  merely  guide-books.  The  present  work 
is  believed  to  be  the  first  attempt  to  give  in  attractive  form  a  book  which  will 
serve  not  only  as  a  guide  to  those  about  visiting  England  and  Wales,  but  also 
as  an  agreeable  reminiscence  to  others,  who  will  find  that  its  pages  treat  of 
familiar  scenes.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  everything  within  the  brief 
compass  of  a  single  book,  but  it  is  believed  that  nearly  all  the  more  prominent 
places  in  England  and  Wales  are  included,  with  enough  of  their  history  and 
legend  to  make  the  description  interesting.  The  artist's  pencil  has  also  been 
called  into  requisition,  and  the  four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  illustrations  will 
give  an  idea,  such  as  no  words  can  convey,  of  the  attractions  England  presents 
to  the  tourist. 

The  work  has  been  arranged  in  eight  tours,  with  Liverpool  and  London  as 
the  two  starting-points,  and  each  route  following  the  lines  upon  which  the 
sightseer  generally  advances  in  the  respective  directions  taken.  Such  is 
probably  the  most  convenient  form  for  the  travelling  reader,  as  the  author 
has  found  from  experience,  while  a  comprehensive  index  will  make  reference 
easy  to  different  localities  and  persons.  Without  further  introduction  it  is 
presented  to  the  public,  in  the  confident  belief  that  the  interest  developed 
in  its  subject  will  excuse  any  shortcomings  that  may  be  found  in  its  pages. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

LIVERPOOL,    WESTWARD    TO    THE  WELSH  COAST. 


PAGE 


Liverpool — Birkenhead — Knowsley  Hall — Chester — Cheshire — Eaton  Hall — Hawarden  Castle — Bidston — Congle- 
ton — Beeston  Castle — The  river  Dee — Llangollen — Valle-Crucis  Abbey — Dinas  limn — Wynnstay — 1'ont 
Cysylltau — Chirk  Castle — Bangor-yi-Coed — Holt — Wrexham — The  Sands  o'  Dee — North  Wales — Flint  ('a— 
tie — Rhiuldlan  Castle — Mold — Denbigh — St.  Asaph — Holywell — Powys  Cattle— The  Menai  Strait — Anglcsea 
— Beaumaris  Castle — Bangor — Ptrnrhyn  Castle — Plas  Newydd — Caernarvon  Castle — Ancient  Segontium — 
Conway  Castle — Bettws-y-Coed — Mount  Snowtlon — Port  Madoc — Coast  of  Merioneth — •Barmouth — St. 
Patrick's  Causeway — Mawddach  Vale — Cader  Idris — Dolgelly — Bala  Lake — Abery^twith — Harlech  Castle 
— Holyhead 17 


II. 
LIVERPOOL,  NORTHWARD    TO   7 HE  SCOTTISH  BORDER. 

Lancashire — Wanington — Manchester — Furness  Abbey — The  Kibble — Stonyhurst — Lancaster  Castle — Isle  ot 
Man — Castletown — Rushen  Castle — Peele  Castle — The  Lake  Country — \Vindermere — Lodore  Fall — Dcrwent- 
water — Keswick — Greta  Hall — Southey,  Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge — Skiddaw — The  Border  Castles — 
Kendal  Castle— Brougham  Hall— The  Solway— Carlisle  Castle— Scaleby  Castle— Naworth— Lord  William 
Howard 51 

III. 
LIVERPOOL,    THROUGH  THE  MIDLAND  COUNTIES,    TO  LONDON. 

The  Peak  of  Derbyshire — Castleton — Bess  of  Hardwicke — Hardwicke  Hall — Bolsover  Castle  —The  Wye  and 
the  Dei  went — Buxton — Bakewell — Haddon  Hall — The  King  of  the  Peak — Dorothy  Vernon — Rowsley — 
The  Peacock  Inn — Chatsworth — The  Victoria  Regia — Matlock — Dovedale — Beauchief  Ablx.-y — Stafford 
Castle — Trenlham  Hall — Taimvorth — Tutbury  Castle — Chartley  Castle — Alton  Towers — Shrewsbury  Castle 
— Bridgenorth — Wenlock  Abl>ey— Ludlow  Castle— The  Feathers  Inn— Lichlield  Cathedral — Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson — Coventry— Lady  Godiva  and  Peeping  Tom — Belvoir  Castle — Charnwood  Forest — Groby  and  Brad- 
gate—  El izatieth  Widvile  and  Lady  Jane  Grey — Ulverscroft  Priory — Grace  Dien  Abbey — Ashby  de  la  Zouche 
— Langley  Priory— Leicester  Abbey  and  Castle — Bosworth  Field— Edgehill— Nnseby— The  Land  of  Shake- 
speare— Stratford- on-Avon — Warwick— Kenilworth— Birmingham— Boulton  and  Watt — Fotheringhay  Castle 
— Holmby  House— Bedford  Castle— John  Bunyan— Woburn  Abbey  and  the  Russells— Stowe— Whaddon 
Hall — Great  Hampden — Creslow  House 70 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


IV. 

THE   RIVER    THAMES  AND   LONDON. 

The  Thames  Head — Cotswold  Hills — Seven  Springs — Cirencester — Cheltenham — Sudeley  Castle — Chavenage — 
Shifford — Lechlade — Stanton  Harcourt — Cumnor  Hall — Fair  Rosamond — Godstow  Nunnery— Oxford — Ox- 
ford Colleges — Christ  Church — Corpus  Christi — Merlon — Oriel — All  Souls — University — Queen's — Magdalen 
— Brasenose — New  College — Radclifife  Library — Bodleian  Library — Lincoln — Exeter — Wad  ham — Keble — 
Trinity — Balliol — St.  John's — Pembroke — Oxford  Churches — Oxford  Castle — Carfax  Conduit — Banbury — 
Broughton  Castle — Woodstock — Marlborough — Blenheim — Minster  Lovel — Bicester — Eynsham — Abingdon 
— Radley— Bacon,  Rich,  and  Holt— Clifton-Hampden— Caversham— Reading — Maidenhead — Bisham  Abbey 
—Vicar  of  Bray — Eton  College— Windsor  Castle— Magna  Charta  Island— Cowey  Stakes— Ditton— Twick- 
enham— London — Fire  Monument — St.  Paul's  Cathedral — Westminster  Abbey — The  Tower — Lollards  and 
Lambeth — Bow  Church — St.  Bride's— Whitehall— Horse  Guards — St.  James  Palace— Buckingham  Palace 
— Kensington  Palace — Houses  of  Parliament— Hyde  Park — Marble  Arch— Albert  Memorial — South  Ken- 
sington Museum— Royal  Exchange — Bank  of  England — Mansion  House — Inns  of  Court — British  Museum 
— Some  London  Scenes — The  Underground  Railway — Holland  House — Greenwich — Tilbury  Fort — The 
Thames  Mouth  . 


V- 

LONDON,    NORTHWARD    TO    THE    TWEED. 

Harrow — St.  Albans — Verulam — Hatfield  House — Lord  Burleigh — Cassiobury — Knebworth — Great  Bed  of  Ware 
—The  River  Cam — Audley  End — Saffron  Walden — Newport — Nell  Gwynne — Littlebury — Winstanley — Har- 
wich— Cambridge — Trinity  and  St.  John's  Colleges — Caius  College— Trinity  Hall — The  Senate  House — 
University  Library — Clare  College — Great  St.  Mary's  Church — King's  College — Corpus  Christ!  College — St. 
Catharine's  College — Queens'  College — The  Pitt  Press — Pembroke  College— Peterhouse— Fitzwilliam  Mu- 
seum— Hobson's  Conduit — Downing  College — Emmanuel  College — Christ's  College — Sidney-Sussex  College 
— The  Round  Church — Magdalene  College — Jesus  College — Trumpington — The  Fenland — Bury  St.  Ed- 
munds— Hengrave  Hall — Ely — Peterborough — Crowland  Abbey — Guthlac — Norwich  Castle  and  Cathedral — 
Stamford — Burghley  House — George  Inn — Grantham— Lincoln — Nottingham — Southwell — Sherwood  Forest 
— Robin  Hood — The  Dukeries — Thoresby  Hall — Clumber  Park — Welbeck  Abbey — Newstead  Abbey — Newark 
—Hull— Wilberforce— Beverley— Sheffield— Wakefield— Leeds— Bolton  Abbey— The  Strid— Ripon  Cathe- 
dral— Fountains  Abbey — Studley  Royal — Fountains  Hall — York — Eboracum — York  Minster — Clifford's 
Tower — Castle  Howard — Kirkham  Priory — Flamborough  Head — Scarborough — Whitby  Abbey — Durham 
Cathedral  and  Castle — St.  Cuthbert — The  Venerable  Bede — Battle  of  Neville's  Cross — Chester-le-Street — 
Lumley  Castle — Newcastle-upon-Tyne — Hexham — Alnwick  Castle — Hotspur  and  the  Percies — St.  Michael's 
Church — Hulne  Priory — Ford  Castle— Flodden  Field — The  Tweed — Berwick — Holy  Isle — Lindisfarne — 
Bamborough — Grace  Darling 224 


VI. 

LONDON,    WESTWARD    TO  MILFORD   HAVEN. 

The  Cotswolds — The  River  Severn — Gloucester — Berkeley  Castle — New  Inn — Gloucester  Cathedral — Lampreys 
— Tewkesbnry;  its  Mustard,  Abbey,  and  Battle — Worcester;  its  Battle — Charles  II. 's  Escape — Worcester 
Cathedral — The  Malvern  Hills — Worcestershire  Beacon — Herefordshire  Beacon — Great  Malvern — St.  Anne's 
Well— The  River  Wye— Clifford  Castle— Hereford— Old  Butcher's  Row— Nell  Gwynne's  Birthplace — Ross 
—The  Man  of  Ross — Ross  Church  and  its  Trees — Walton  Castle — Goodrich  Castle — Forest  of  Dean — Cgld- 


( •<  >  \TE.\TS. 


well — Symond's  Vat — Tin-  l!  Mnnmouth — Kymin  Hill — Raglan  Castle — Redbrook — St.  Biiarrl  Cas- 
tle— Tintern  Abbey — The  \Yync-liff— Wyntmir's  Leap — Chepstow  Castle — The  River  Monnow — The  Golden 
Valley — The  Black  Mountains — Pontrilas  Court — Kwias  Harold — Alibey  Dore — The  Scyrrid  Vawr — Worm- 
ridge — Kilpeck — Olilcastle — Kentchurch — Grosmont — The  Vale  of  Usk — Abcrgavenny — I.lanthony  Pii.iiy- 
Walter  Savage  Landor — C;ipel-y-Ffyn  N  -Penarth  Roads — Cardiff — The"Rocking-Stone — Llandaff — 
Caerphilly  Castle  and  its  Leaning  Tower — Swansea — The  Mumbles — Oy-termouth  Castle — Neath  Abbey — 
Caermarthen — Tenby — Mannrbeer  Castle — Golden  Grove — Pembroke — Milford — Haverfondwest — Milford 
Haven — Pictou  Castle — Carew  Castle 337 


VII. 

LO.\'/><1.\',  SOCTIf-U'EST  TO  LAND'S  E.\D. 

Virginia  Water — Sunninghill — Ascot — Wokingham — Bearwood — The  Ixjndon  Times — White  Horse  Hill — Box 
Tunnel — Salisbury — Salisbury  Plain — Old  Samm— Stonehenge — Amesbury — Wilton  House — The  Earls  of 
Pembroke — Carpet-making — Hath — William  Beckford — Fonthill — Bristol — William  Canynge — Chatterton — 
Clifton — Brandon  Hill — Wells — The.Mendips — Jocelyn — Beckington — Ralph  of  Shrewsbury — Thomas  Ken 
—The  Cheddar  Cliffs— The  Wookey  Hole— The  Black  Down— The  Isle  of  Avelon— Glastonbury— Weary- 
all  Hill — Sedgemoor — The  Isle  of  Athelney — Bridgewater — Oldmixon — Monmouth's  Rebellion — Western  Zoy- 
land— King  Alfred — Sherborne — Sir  Walter  Raleigh— The  Coast  of  Dorset—  Poole— Wareham — Isle  of  Pur- 
beck — Corfe  Castle — The  Foreland — Swanage — St.  Aldhelm's  Head — Weymouth — Portland  Isle  and  Bill — 
The  Channel  Islands — Jersey — Corbiere  Promontory — Mount  Orgueil — Alderney — Guernsey — Castle  Cornet 
— The  Southern  Coast  of  Devon — Abbotsbury — Lyme  Regis — Axminster — Sidmouth — Exmouth — Exeter — 
William,  Prince  of  Orange — Exeter  Cathedral — Bishop  Trelawney — Dawlish — Teignmouth — Hope's  Nose — 
Babbicombe  Bay — Anstis  Cove — Torbay — Torquay — Brixham — Dartmoor — The  River  Dart — Totnes — Berry 
Pomeroy  Castle — Dartmouth — The  River  Plym — The  Dewerstone — Plympton  Priory — Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
— Catwater  Haven — Plymouth — Stonehouse — Devonport — Eddy  stone  Lighthouse — Tavistock  Abbey — Buck- 
land  Abbey — Lydford  Castle — The  Northern  Coast  of  Devon — Exmoor — Minehead — Dunster — Dunkery 
Beacon — Porlock  Bay — The  River  Lyn — Oare — Lorna  Doone — Jan  Ridd — Lynton — Lynmouth — Castle 
Rock — The  Devil's  Cheese-Ring — Combe  Martin — Ilfracombe — Morte  Point — Morthoe— Barnslable — Bide- 
ford — Clovelly — Lundy  Island — Cornwall — Tintagel — Launceston — Liskeard — Fowey — Lizard  Peninsula — 
Falmouth — Pendennis  Castle — Helston — Mullyon  Cove — Smuggling — Kynance  Cove — The  Post-Office — Old 
Lizard  Head — Polpeor — St.  Michael's  Mount — Penzance-- Pilchard  Fishery — Penwith — Land's  End  .  .  .  384 


VIII. 

LONDON.    TO   THE  SOUTH  COAST. 

The  Surrey  Side — The  Chalk  Downs — Guildford — The  Hog's  Back — Albury  Down — Archbishop  Abbot — St. 
Catharine's  Chapel — St.  Martha's  Chapel — Albury  Park — John  Evelyn — Henry  Drummond — Aldershot 
Camp — Leith  Hill — Redland's  Wood — Holrmvood  Park — Dorking — Weller  and  the  Marquis  of  Granby  Inn — 
Deepdene — Betchworth  Castle — The  River  Mole — Boxhill — The  Fox  and  Hounds — The  Denbies — Ranmore 
Common — Battle  of  Dorking — Wotton  Church — Epsom — Reigate — Pierrepoint  House — Longfield — The 
Weald  of  Kent — Goudhurst — Bedgebury  Park — Kilndown — Cranbrook — Bloody  Baker's  Prison — Sis- 
singhurst — Bayham  Abbey — Tunbridge  Castle — Tunbridge  Wells — Penshurst — Sir  Philip  Sidney — Hever 
Castle — Anne  Boleyn — Knole — Leeds  Castle — Tenterden  Steeple  and  the  Goodwin  Sands — Rochester — 
Gad's  Hill — Chatham— Canterbury  Cathedral— St.  Thomas  i  Becket — Falstaff  Inn— Isle  of  Thanet— Rams- 
gate — Margate — North  Foreland — The  Cinque  Ports — Sandwich — Rutupia? — Ebbsfleet — Goodwin  Sands — 
Walmer  Castle — South  Foreland — Dover — Shakespeare's  Cliff — Folkestone — Hythe — Romney — Dungeness 
— Rye — Winchelsea — Hastings — Pevensey — Hailsham — Hiirstmonceux  Castle — Beachy  Head — Brighton — 


10 


CONTENTS. 


The  Aquarium — The  South  Downs — Dichling  Beacon — Newhaven — Steyning — Wiston  Manor — Chancton- 
bury  Ring — Arundel  Castle — Chichester — Selsey  Bill — Goodwood — Bignor—  Midhurst— Cowdray—  Dunford 
House— Selborne — Gilbert  White;  his  book;  his  house,  sun-dial,  and  church — Greatham  Church — Win- 
chester  The  New  Forest — Lyndhurst — Minstead  Manor — Castle  Malwood — Death  of  William  Rufus — 

Rufus's  Stone — Beaulieu  Abbey — Brockenhurst — Ringwood — Lydington — Christchurch — Southampton — Net- 
ley  Abbey Calshot  Castle — The  Solent — Portsea  Island — Portsmouth — Gosport — Spithead — The  Isle  of 

Wight— High  Down — Alum  Bay— Yarmouth— Cowes—Osborne  House — Ryde— Grading — Sandown— Shank- 
lin  Chine — Bonchurch— The  Undercliff— Ventnor—  Niton— St.  Lawrence  Church — St.  Catharine's  Down — 
Blackgang  Chine— Carisbrooke  Castle— Newport — Freshwater— Brixton — The  Needles  ...  .  463 


MARKET-PLACE,    PETERBOROUGH. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Alton  Towers Frontispiece. 

The  Old  Mill,  Selborne Title-Page. 

Market-place,  Peterborough      ....  After  Content*. 

The  Pottergate,  Alnwick 1 6 

Perch  Rock  Light 17 

St.  George's    Hall,  Liverpool, 19 

Chester  Cathedral,  Exterior    ...  .    .  21 

Chester  Cathedral,  Interior  ...        21 

Julius  Caesar's  Tower,  Chester 22 

Ancient  Front,  Chester 22 

God's  Providence  1  louse,  Chester 23 

Bishop  Lloyd's  Palace,  Chester 23 

Old  Lamb  Row,  Chester 23 

Stanley   House,  Front,  Chester 24 

Stanley   House,  Rear,  Chester 24 

Phoenix  Tower,  Chester 25 

Water  Tower,  Chester 25 

Abbey  Gale,  Chester 26 

Ruins  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  Chester .26 

Plas  Newydd,  Llangollen 28 

Ruins  of   Valle-Crucis  Ahlxry 29 

Wynnstay 30 

Pont  Cysylliau 30 

Wrexham  Tower 31 

The  Roodee,  from  the  Railway-bridge,  Chester  .        .  32 

The  "  S.inds  o'  Dee  " 33 

Menai  Strait 36 

Beaumaris  Castle 37 

Bangor  Cathedral 37 

Caernarvon  Castle 39 

Conway  Castle,  from  the   Road  to  Llanrwst    ....  40 

Falls  of  the  Conway 41 

Swallow  Falls 42 

Llanrwst  Bridge 43 

Harmouth 44 

Baimomh  Estuary 45 

Cader  Idris,  on  the  Taly-slyn  Ascent 46 

Rhayadr-y-Mawddach 46 

Dolgelly 47 

Owen  Glendower's  Parliament  House,  Dolgelly  ...  47 

Lower  Bridge,  Torrent  Walk,  Dolgelly 48 

Bab  Lake 48 

Aberystwith 49 

Harlech  Castle 50 

Old  Market,  Warrington 51 


FAGR 

Manchester  Cathedral,  from  the  South-east    ...        .53 

Assize  Courts,  Manchester 54 

Royal  Exchange,  Manchester 55 

Furness  Abbey 56 

Castle  Square,  Lancaster 58 

Bradda   Head,  Isle  of  Man     ...  59 

Kirk  Bradden,  Isle  of  Man        59 

Rhenass  Waterfall,  Isle  of  Man 60 

Castle  Rushen,  Isle  of  Man Gi 

Peele  Castle,  Isle  of  Man 63 

Glimpse  of  Derwentwater,  from  Scafell 64 

Falls  of  Lodore,  Derwentwater 65 

Road  through  the  Cathedral  Close,  Carlisle   .  .68 

View  on  the  Torrent  Walk,  Dolgelly 69 

Peveril  C'astle,  Castleton 71 

Hardwicke  Hall 72 

Hardwicke   Hall,  Elizabethan   Staircase 73 

Bolsover  Castle 74 

The  Crescent,  Buxton 75 

Bakewell  Church 76 

Haddon  Hall,  from  the  Wye 77 

Haddon  Hall,  Entrance  to  Banquet-hall 78 

Haddon  Hall,  the  Terrace 79 

The  Peacock  Inn  from  the  Road          81 

Chatsworth   House,  from  the  South-west   ...  81 

Chatsworth  House,  Door  to  State  Drawing-ruum        .  82 
Chatsworth  House,  State  Drawing  room     .....  82 

Chatsworth  House,  State  Bedroom 83 

Chatsworth  House,  the  Sculpture-gallery 84 

Chatsworth  House,  Gateway  to  Stable 85 

High  Tor,  Matlock S.1 

The  Straits,  Dovedale 86 

Banks  of  the  Dove 86 

Tissington   Spires,  Dovedale 87 

Trentham  Hall 89 

Trentham  Hall — on  the  Terrace 90 

Shrewsbury  Castle,  from  the  Railway-station    ....  93 
Head-quarters   of   Henry   VII.   on    his  Way  to    Bos- 
worth  Field,  Shrewsbury 94 

On  Battlefield  Road,  Shrewsbury    . 94 

Bridgenorth,  from  near  Oldlniry 95 

liridgenorth,  Keep  of  the  Castle -95 

Bridgenorth,   House   where   Bishop   Percy  was  born    .  96 

Lodge  of  Much  Weulock  Abbey 96 

Wenlock 97 

II 


I  2 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Ludlow  Castle 98 

Ludlow  Castle,  Entrance  to  the  Council-chamber  .    .     99 

The  Feathers   Hotel,  Ludlow loo 

Lichfield  Cathedral,  West  Front 101 

Lichfield  Cathedral.  Interior,  looking  West  .    .    .    .  101 

Lichfield  Cathedral,  Rear  View 102 

Dr.  Johnson's  Birthplace,  Lichfield  ...  .103 

Coventry  Gateway ...  105 

Coventry Io6 

Ruins  of  Bradgate  House  .    .  1 08 

Ruins  of  Ulverscroft  Priory   ....  .109 

Ruins  of  Grace  Dieu  Abbey    ...        .   '.  .    .  IIO 

Leicester  Abbey ' ' ' 

Gateway,  Newgate  Street,  Leicester 112 

Edgehill "3 

Edgehill.Mill  at "5 

Church  and   Market  hall,  Market  Harborough  .    .    .117 

Shakespeare's  House,  Stratford .    .  118 

Anne   Hathaway's  Cottage,  Shottery 119 

Warwick  Castle ...  120 

Leicester's  Hospital,  Warwick  ...  .    .  122 

Oblique  Gables  in  Warwick .    .  122 

Kenil worth  Castle -123 

St.  Martin's  Church,   Birmingham    .  .    .  124 

Aston  Hall,  Birmingham I25 

Aston  Hall,  the  "  Gallery  of  the  Presence"       ...  126 

The  Town-hall,  Birmingham 127 

Elstow,  Bedford '3° 

Elstow  Church •  '3° 

Elstow  Church,  North  Door .  I31 

Woburn  Abbey,  West  Front '32 

Woburn  Abbey,  the  Sculpture-gallery 133 

Woburn  Abbey,  Entrance  to  the  Puzzle  garden    .    .134 

Thames  Head 138 

Dovecote,  Stanton  Harcourt 14° 

Cumnor  Churchyard • M1 

Godstow  Nunnery «42 

Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  from  the  Cherwell    ...  143 

Magdalen  College,  Stone  Pulpit .    .  144 

Magdalen  College,  Bow  Window 144 

Gable  at  St.  Aldate's  College,  Oxford 144 

Dormer  Window,  Merton  College,  Oxford  .  .144 

Gateway  of  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford 145 

Merton  College  Chapel,  Oxford .146 

Merton  College  Gateway 146 

Oriel  College,  Oxford '47 

Magdalen  College  Cloisters,  Oxford    .    .  ...  148 

Magdalen  College,  Founders'  Tower  ...  -    -  '49 

Magdalen  College •  1 5° 

New  College,  Oxford,  from  the  Garden 151 

New  College '52 

The  Radcliffe  Library,  from  the  Quadrangle  of  Bra- 

senose,  Oxford '52 

Dining-hall,  Exeter  College,  Oxford   .    .  .153 

Trinity  College  Chapel,  Oxford  ...  .153 


Window  in  St.  John's  College,  Garden  Front,  Oxford  154 

Tower  St.  John's  College,  Oxford 154 

St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  from  High  Street,  Oxford  .    .       155 
All  Saints,  from  High  Stree',  Oxford   .    .         ...  156 

Carfax  Conduit 157 

Iffley  Mill 157 

Iffley  Church 158 

Cromwell's  Parliament-house,  Banbury 159 

Berks  and  Wilts  Canal 160 

Chaucer's  House,  Woodstock .161 

Old  Remains  at  Woodstock .  162 

Blenheim  Palace,  from  the  Lake 163 

Bicester  Priory 165 

Bicester   Market 166 

Cross  at  Eynsham 166 

Entrance  to  Abingdon  Abbey 167 

Radley  Church 168 

The  Thames  at  Clifton-Hampden 170 

Bray  Church ....171 

Eton   College,  from  the   Playing  Fields 173 

Eton  College,  from  the  Cricket-ground  ...  173 

Windsor  Castle,  from  the  Brocas 174 

Windsor  Castle  Round  Tower,  West  End 175 

Windsor  Castle,  Queen's  Rooms  in  South-east  Tower  176 
Windsor  Castle,  Interior  of  St.  George's  Chapel  .    .177 

Magna  Charta  Island .  I78 

The  Monument,  London 180 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London    ...  .    .  182 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  South  Side .183 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the  Choir .    .  183 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Wellington   Monument  ....  184 

Westminster  Abbey,  London .185 

Westminster  Abbey,  Cloisters  of 186 

Westminster  Abbey,  Interior  of  Choir 187 

Westminster  Abbey,  King  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  .    .    .188 

The  Tower  of  London,  Views  in 191 

The  Church  of  St.  Peter,  on  Tower  Green 193 

The  Lollards'   Tower,  Lambeth  Palace,  London  .    .194 

St.  Mary-le-Bow,  London 195 

St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street,  London  .    .  ....  195 

Chapel   Royal,  Whitehall,  London  .    .  .196 

Chapel  Royal,  Interior  of  (Banqueting-hall)  .  .  197 

The  Horse  Guards,  from  the  Parade-ground,  London  198 

Gateway  of  St.  James   Palace,  London 199 

Buckingham  Palace,  Garden  Front,  London  ....  200 
Kensington  Palace,  West  Front,  London    .    .  .201 

Victoria  Tower,  Houses  of  Parliament,  London    .    .  203 
Interior  of  the  House  of  Common-  .  204 

The  Marble  Arch,  Hyde  Park,  London  .    .  .205 

The  Albert  Memorial,  Hyde  Park 206 

Principal  Entrance  New  Museum  of  Natural  History, 

South  Kensington,  London 207 

Royal  Exchange,  London  .... 

Bank  of  England,  London 

Mansion  House,  Lojidon •    •  2O9 


The  Law  Courts,  London 

Sir  Paul  I'inder's  House,  London 

Waterloo  Bridge,  London 

Schomberg  House,  London . 

Statue  of  Sidney  Herbert,  Pall  Mall,  London  .    . 

Doorway,  Beaconsfield  Club,  London 

Cavendish  Square,  London 

The  "  Bell   Inn  "at  Edmonton  ...  .        . 

The  "Old  Tabard  Inn,"  London 

Holland  House,  South  Side 

Holland  House,  Dining-Room 

Holland  House,  the  Dutch  Garden 

Holland  House,  the  Library 

Holland  House,  Rogers's  Seat  in  the  Dutch  Garden 

Greenwich  Hospital,  from  the  River 

London,  from  Greenwich  Park 

St.  Albans,  from  Verulam 

Old  Wall  at  Verulam 

Monastery  Gate,  St.  Albans 

The  Tower  of  the  Abbey,  St.  Albans 

Staircase  to  Watching  Gallery,  St.  Albans    .... 
Shrine  and  Watching  Caller)',  St.  Albans    .    .    . 

Clock  Tower,  St.  Albans     ....  

Barnard's  Heath 

St.  Michael's,  Verulam 

Queen  Elizabeth's  Oak,  Hatfield 

Hailield  House 

Hatiield  House,  the  Corridor 

View  through  Old  Gateway,  Hatfield  .  ' .    . 

Audley  End,  Western  Front 

Views  in  Saffron  Walden 

Town-hall. 

Church. 

Entrance  to  the  Town . 

Jetties  at  Harwich 238 

Bridge,  Si.  John's  College,  Cambridge 239 

Hall  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge  . 241 

St.  John's  Chapel,  Cambridge 242 

Back  of  Clare  College,  Cambridge 244 

King's  College  Chapel — Interior — Cambridge         .    .  245 

King's  College  Chapel,  Doorway  of 246 

Scenes  in  Cambridge 247 

The  Senate  House. 

The  Pitt  Press. 

Great  St.  Mury's 

The  Fitzwilliam  Museum. 

The  Round  Church. 

Gateway,  Jesus  College,  Cambridge 249 

Hengrave  Hall .  250 

Road  leading  to  Ely  Close 250 

Ely  Cathedral,  from  the  Railway  Bridge  .....  251 
Old  Bits  in  Ely 252 

Old  Passage  from  Ely  Street  to  Cathedral  Ford. 

Entrance  to  Prior  Crawdon's  Chapel. 

OM  Houses  in  High  Street. 

Peterborough  Cathedral  253 

Peterborough  Cathedral,  Aisle  and  Choir 254 


I'ACE 
.  2IO 
.  211 
.  212 

213 
.  214 
214 

•  2IS 
.  216 
217 

.  218 
.  218 
.  219 

219 

221 
.  222 
225 
.  226 
.  226 
227 
227 
.  228 
229 
229 

231 

232 

233 

234 

237 


Kast  End  of  Crowland  Abbey 

Norwich  Cattle 

Norwich  Cathedral 

Norwich  Cathedral  —  the  Choir,  looking  East  . 

Norwich  Market-place 

Burghley  House  ..... 

Lincoln  Cathedral,  from  the  South-west 

"  Bits"  from  Lincoln 


257 
258 
250 
260 
261 
264 
265 


The  Cloisters. 
The  Angel  Choir. 
The  High  Bridge. 

Nottingham  Castle 

Southwell    Minster    and    Ruins  of   the  Archbishop's 

Palace 

Southwell   Minster,  the  Nave 

Clumber   Hall 

Welbeck  Abtey 

Newark  Castle,  Front 

Newark  Castle  and  Dungeon 

Newark  Market-square 

Newark  Church,  looking  from  the  North 

The  Humber  at  Hull 

House  where  Wilberforce  was  born,  Hull 

Beverley,  Entrance-Gate 

Beverley,  Market-square 

Manor  House,  Sheffield 

Entrance  to  the  Cutlers'  Hall,  Sheffield 

Edward  IV. 's  Chapel,  Wakefield  Bridge 

Wakefield 

Briggate,  Leeds,  looking  North 

St.  John's  Church,  Leeds 

Bolton  Abbey,  Gateway  in  the  Priory 

Bolton  Abbey,  the  Churchyard 

The  Strid 

Ripon  Minster 

Studley  Royal  Park 

Fountains  Abbey,  the  Transept 

Fountains  Abbey,  Tower  and  Crypt 

Fountains  Hall .... 

Richmond    Castle 

The   Multangular   Tower  and   Ruins  of   St.   Mary's 

Abbey,  York 

Micklegate  Bar  and  the  Red  Tower,  York 

York  Minster 

York  Minster,  the  Choir 

York  Minster,  Tomb  of  Archbishop  DeGrey  .... 

Clifford's  Tower,  York 

The  Shambles,  York 

Castle  Howard,  South  Front 

Castle  Howard,  the  Obelisk 

Castle  Howard,  the  Temple,  with  the  Mausoleum  in 

the  distance 

Gateway,  Kirkham  Priory 

Scarborough  Spa  and  Esplanade 

Scarborough,  from  the  Sea 


267 

268 
269 
271 

2-2 

^74 

275 

2/6 

276 

-77 
278 
278 
279 
280 
281 
282 
283 
283 
284 
286 
286 
287 
288 
289 
290 
291 
292 
293 

294 
297 
298 
299 
300 
301 
302 

3°3 

3°4 

305 
306 
308 


'4 


LIST  01-    1LLUSTRATIOXS. 


Whitby  Abbey jri 

Durham,  General  View  of  the  Cathedral  and  Castle  .  312 

Durham  Castle,  Norman  Doorway 313 

Dm  ham  Cathedral,  from  an  old  I  lomestcadonthe  Wear.  315 

Durham  Cathedral,  the  Nave 316 

Durham  Cathedral,  the  Choir,  looking  West    ....  317 
Durham  Cathedral,  the  Galilee  and  Tomb  of  Bede  .    .318 

Lumley  Castle 320 

Lumley  Castle,  Gateway  from  the  Walk 321 

Hexham 322 

Alnwick  Castle,  from  the  Lion  Bridge 323 

Almvick  Castle,  the  Barbican  Gate 323 

Alnwick  Castle,  the  Barbican 324 

Alnwick  Castle,  the  Barbican,  Eastern  Angle  ....  225 

Alnwick  Castle,  the  Percy  Bedstead 326 

Alnwick  Castle,  the  Percy  Cross 326 

Alnwick  Cattle,  Constable's  Tower 327 

Alnwick  Castle,  Earl  Hugh's  Tower 328 

Alnwick  Castle,  Draw- Well  and   Norman  Gateway  .  329 
Alnwick  Castle,  Gravestone  in  the  Churchyard  of  St. 

Michael's  and  All  Angels 329 

Alnwick  Castle,  Font  Lectern,  St.  Michael's  Church  .  330 

Hulne  Priory,  Porter's  Lodge 331 

Ford  Tower,  overlooking   Flodden 331 

The  Cheviots,  from   Ford  Castle 332 

Flodden,  from  the  King's  Bedchamber,  Ford  Castle  .  333 

Ford  Castle,   the  Crypt 335 

Grace  Darling's  Monument,  Bamborough 336 

Gloucester  Cathedral,  from  the  South-east 338 

Gloucester,  the  New  Inn 340 

Gloucester  Cathedral,  the  Monks' Lavatory  .    .    .    .       342    j 

Tewkesbury ' 343 

Tewkesbury  Abbey 344 

Tewkesbury  Abbey,  Choir 345 

Worcester  Cathedral,  from  the  Severn  .......  3^6 

Worcester  Cathedral,  Choir 348 

Ruins  of  the  Guesten  Hall,  Worcester 349 

Clone  in  Worcester 350 

St.  Anne's  Well.  Malvern       352 

Butchers'  Row,  Hereford 353 

Out-house  where  Nell  Gwynne  was  born,  Hereford  .    .  353 

Hereford  Cathedral      354 

Hereford  Cathedral,  Old  Nave 355 

Ross  Bridge 355 

Ross,  House  of  the  "  Man  of  Ross1' 356 

Ross  Market-place 357 

Ross  Church 358 

Ross  Church,  the  Tree,  in 358 

Ruins  of  Goodrich  Castle 359 

Bend  in  the  Wye 360 

Symond's  Yat,  the  Wye 361 

Monmouth  Bridge 363 

Monmouth  Bridge,  Gate  on        363 

Raglan  Castle 364 

Tintern  Abbey,  from  the  Highroad 365 


Chepstow  Castle 368 

Pontrilas  Court 370 

The  Scyrrid  Vawr 371 

Llamhony  Priory,  looking  down  the  Nave 373 

Llanthony  Priory,  the  South  Transept 374 

Swansea,  North  Dock 377 

Swansea  Castle 378 

The  Mumbles 379 

Oystermouth  Castle 380 

Neath  Abbey,  ruins 381 

Bearwood,    Berkshire,    Residence   of    John    Walter, 

Esq.,  proprietor  of  Loiuton  Times 385 

Salisbury  Cathedral 387 

Salisbury  Market 388 

Stonehenge 390 

Wilton  House 392 

Wilton  House,  Fireplace  in  Double  Cube  Room  .    .  393 

Wilton   House,   the  Library 393 

Wilton   House,  the  Library  Window 394 

Bristol  Cathedral ' 398 

Norman   Doorway,  College  Green,  Bristol 399 

Clifton  Suspension  Bridge,  Bristol 400 

Wells  Cathedral,  from  the  Bishop's  Garden 401 

Wells  Cathedral,  from  the  Swan  Pool 402 

Wells  Cathedral,  View  under  Central  Tower  ....  403 

Wells,  Ruins  of  the  Old  Banquet-Hall 404 

Entrance  to  the  Cheddar  Cliffs,  Wells 405 

High  Rocks  at  Cheddar,  Wells 406 

Glastonbury  Tribunal 408 

Sedgemoor,  from  Cock  Hill 409 

Weston  Zoyland   Church 410 

The  Isle  of  Athelney 412 

Sherbourne    413 

Corfe  Castle 416 

Studland  Church 418 

Ruins  of  Old  Cross  in  the  Churchyard 418 

St.  Aldhelm's  Head 419 

Portland  Isle 420 

Corbiere  Lighthouse,  Jersey 422 

View  from  Devil's  Hole,  Jersey 423 

Exeter  Cathedral,  West  Front 425 

Exeter,  Ruins  of  Rougemont  Castle 426 

Exeter,  Old  Houses  in  Cathedral  Close 426 

Exeter  Cathedral,  from  the  North-west 427 

Exeter  Cathedral,  Bishop's  Throne 428 

Exeter  Cathedral,  Minstrel  Gallery 429 

Exeter,  Guildhall 429 

Babbicombe  Bay 43° 

Anstis  Cove ...  431 

Totnes,  from  the  river 432 

Berry  Pomeroy  Castle 433 

A  Bend  of  the  Dart 434 

Dartmouth  Castle 434 

The  Dewerstone 435 

Vale  of  Bickleigh .-  .  436 


LIST  or  J/.LrsTRArio.\s. 


15 


riymptim  Priory,  Old  Doorway 
Minehead 


PACK 

457 
440 

44' 
44^ 
443 
444 
444 
445 
445 
446 

447 
447 
449 
450 

45° 


(  hi  1'oilock  Moor 

Du.'iie  Valley    .     .     .         

Bagworthy  Water         

Jan  Ridd's  Tree 

View  on  the  East  Lyn 

Castle  Rock,  Lynton 

Devil's  Cheese-Ring,  Lymmi 

Tower  on  Beach,  Lynmouth 

Ilfracombe 

Morte  Point 

Bideford   Bridge .... 

Clovelly,  Main  Street 

Clovelly.  Old  Houses  OJ1  Beach 451 

Fowey   1'ier 452 

Pendennis  Castle 454 

Mullyon  Cove ACC 

Lion  Rock,  with   Mullyon  in  the  distance  .    .  .  456 

Cave  at  Mullyon 456 

Pradenack  Point 457 

KynanceCove 457 

The  Post-Office,  Kynance 458 

Polpeor 455 

Rocks  near  the  Lizard 4-0, 

St.  Michael's  Mount    ...        460 

Old  Market,  Penzance 461 

Land's  End 462 

High  Street,  Guildford 464 

Ruins  of  St.  Catharine's  Chapel 466 

Leith  Hill 467 

Old  Dovecote,  Holmwood  Park 468 

White  Horse  Inn,  Dorking 469 

Pierrepoint  House 472 

Longfield,  East  Sheen 475 

Ruins  of  Sissinghurst 475 

Tunbridge  Castle 476 

Penshurst  Place 476 


IVnshurst  Church 

1  lever  Castle 

Leeds  Castle,  Gateway 

iler  Castle 

Canterbury 

Canterbury,  Falstaff  Inn 

Sandwich,  the   Barbican 

Dover  Castle,  the  Pharos 

Dover  Cattle,  Saluting- Battery  Gale 

Rye.  Old  Houses 

Hurstmonceux  Castle 

Arundel  Castle 

Ruins  of  Cowdray 

Selborne,  Gilbert   White's  House 

Selborne,  Gilbert  White's  Sun-Dial 

Selborne  Church 

Selborne,  Rocky  Lane  to  Alton 

S.elborne,  Wishing-Stone 

Greatham  Church 

Winchester,  Cardinal  Beaufort's  Gate  and  Brewery  . 

New  Forest,  from  Bramble  Hill 

New  Forest,  Rufus's  Stone 

New  Forest,  Brockenhurst  Church 

Christchurch,  the  Priory  from  the  Quay  and  Place  Mills 

Christchurch 

Christchurch,   Old   Norman    House   and   View  from 

Priory 

Portsmouth  Point 

Portsmouth,  II.  M.  S.  "  Victory  " 

Cowes  Harbor,  Isle  of  Wight 

The  Needles,  from  Alum  Bay,  Isle  of  Wight  .... 

Yarmouth,  Isle  of  Wight 

Osborne  House,  from  the  Sea,  Isle  of  Wight  .... 

Shanklin  Chine,  Isle  of  Wight 

The  Undercliff,  Isle  of  Wight 

Carisbrooke  Castle,  looking  from  Isle  of  Wight  .    . 

Tennyson's  House,  Isle  of  Wight 

The  Needles,  Isle  of  Wight 


477 
478 
478 
480 
481 
483 

487 

488 
490 
494 
494 
495 
49° 
396 
497 
498 

499 
500 
502 
S°3 
S°5 
506 
5°7 

508 
510 

5" 
512 

5'3 
5'4 

516 

517 
519 
521 
522 


THF.  rOTTKKGATF,  AI.XWIfK. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


i. 

LIVERPOOL  WESTWARD  TO  THE  WELSH  COAST. 

Liverpool Birkenhead  — Knowsley   Hall— Chester — Cheshire — Eaton    Hall — Hawarden    Castle — Bidston— 

Congleton— Beeston  Castle— The  river  Dee—  Llangollen— Yalle-Crucis  Abbey— Dinas  Bran— Wynn- 
stay— Pont  Cysylltau— Chirk  Castle— Bangor-ys-Coed— Holt— \Vrexham-The  Sands  o'  Dee— North 
Wales— Flint  Castle— Rhuddlan  Castle— Mold— Denbigh— St.  Asaph— Holy  well— Powys  Castle— The 
Menai  Strait— Anglesea— Beaumaris  Castle— Bangor— Penrhyn  Castle— Has  Newydd— Caernarvon 
Castle— Ancient  Segontium—  Conway  Castle— Bettws-y-Coed— Mount  Snowdon— Port  Madoc— Coast 
of  Merioneth— Barmouth— St.  Patrick's  Causeway— Mawddach  Vale— Cader  Idris— Dolgelly— Bala 
Lake— Abcrysthwith— Harlech  Castle — Holyhead. 

LIVERPOOL. 


— 1    r  I  "'HE     American     transatlantic 
_1_     tourist,  after  a  week  or  more 
spent  upon    the   ocean,   is   usually 
glad  to  again  see  the  land.     After 
skirting  the  bold    Irish  coast,  and 
-^pi  peeping    into    the    pretty   cove  of 

Cork,  with  Queenstown  in  the 
background,  and  passing  the  rocky 
headlands  of  Wales,  the  steamer 
that  brings  him  from  America  care- 

THE    PERCH    ROCK    LIGHT. 

fully  enters  the  Mersey  River.     Ihe 

shores  are  low  but  picturesque  as  the  tourist  moves  along  the  estuary  be- 
tween the  coasts  of  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  and  passes  the  great  beacon 
standing  up  solitary  and  alone  amid  the  waste  of  waters,  the  Perch  Rock 
Light  off  New  Brighton  on  the  Cheshire  side.  Thus  he  comes  to  the  world's 
greatest  seaport — Liverpool — and  the  steamer  finally  drops  her  anchor  be- 
tween the  miles  of  docks  that  front  the  two  cities,  Liverpool  on  the  left  and 
Birkenhead  on  the  right.  Forests  of  masts  loom  up  behind  the  great  dock- 


1 8  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


walls,  stretching  far  away  on  either  bank,  while  a  Beet  of  arriving  or  departing 
steamers  is  anchored  in  a  long  line  in  mid-channel;  Odd-looking,  low,  black 
tugs,  pouring  out  thick  smoke  from  double  funnels,  move  over  the  water, 
and  one  of  them  takes  the  passengers  alongside  the  capacious  structure  a  half 
mile  long,  built  on  pontoons,  so  it  can  rise  and  fall  with  the  tides,  and  known 
as  the  Prince's  Landing-Stage,  where  the  customs  officers  perform  their  brief 
formalities  and  quickly  let  the  visitor  go  ashore  over  the  fine  floating  bridge 

into  the  city. 

At  Liverpool  most  American  travellers  begin  their  view  of  England.     It  is 
the  great  city  of  ships  and  sailors  and  all  that  appertains  to  the  sea,  and  its 
550,000  population  are  mainly  employed  in  mercantile  life  and  the  myriad  trades 
that  serve  the  ship  or  deal  in  its  cargo,  for  fifteen  thousand  to  twenty  thousand 
of  the  largest  vessels  of  modern  commerce  will  enter  the  Liverpool  clocks  in  a 
year,  and  its  merchants  own  7,000,000  tonnage.     Fronting  these  docks  on  the 
Liverpool  side  of  the  Mersey  is  the  great  sea-wall,  over  five  miles  long,  behind 
which  are  enclosed  400  acres  of  water-surface  in  the  various  clocks,  trat  are 
bordered  by  sixteen  miles'  length  of  quays.     On  the   Birkenhead  side  of  the 
river  there  are  ten  miles  of  quays  in  the  docks  that  extend  for  over  two  miles 
along  the  bank.     These  docks,  which  are  made  necessary  to  accommodate  the 
enormous  commerce,  have  cost  over  $50,000,000,  and  are  the  crowning  glory 
of  Liverpool.     They  are  filled  with  the  ships  of  all  nations,  and  huge  storehouses 
line  the  quays,  containing  products   from  all  parts  of  the  globe,  yet  chiefly  the 
grain  and  cotton,  provisions,  tobacco,  and  lumber  of  America.     Railways  run 
alonp-  the  inner  border  of  the  clocks  on  a  street  between  them  and  the  town, 
and  along  their  tracks  horses  draw  the  freight-cars,  while  double-decked  pas- 
senger-cars also  run  upon  them  with  broad  wheels  fitting  the  rails,  yet  capable 
of  being  run  off  whenever  the  driver  wishes  to  get  ahead  of  the  slowly-moving 
freight-cars.     Ordinary  wagons  move  upon  Strand  street  alongside,  with  horses 
of  the  largest  size  drawing  them,  the  huge  growth  of  the  Liverpool  horses  being 
commensurate  with  the  immense  trucks  and  vans  to  which  these  magnificent 
animals  are  harnessed. 

Liverpool  is  of  great  antiquity,  but  in  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror 
was  only  a  fishing-village.  Liverpool  Castle,  long  since  demolished,  was  a 
fortress  eight  hundred  years  ago,  and  afterward  the  rival  families  of  Molinei.x 
and  Stanley  contended  for  the  mastery  of  the  place.  It  was  a  town  of  slow 
orovvth,  however,  and  did  not  attain  full  civic  dignity  till  the  time  of  Charles  I. 
It  was  within  two  hundred  years  that  it  became  a  seaport  of  any  note. 
The  first  clock  was  opened  in  1 699,  and  strangely  enough  it  was  the  African 
slave-trade  that  gave  the  Liverpool  merchants  their  original  start.  The  port 


L/l  'ERPOOL. 


sent  out  its  first  slave-ship  in  1709,  and  in  1753  had  eighty-eight  ships  engaged 
in  the  slave-trade,  which  carried  over  twenty-five  thousand  slaves  from  Africa 
to  the  \V\v  World  that  year.  Slave-auctions  were  frequent  in  Liverpool,  and 
one  of  the  streets  where  these  sales  were  effected  was  nicknamed  "Negro 
street."  The  agitation  for  the  abolition  of  the  trade  was  carried  on  a  long 
time  before  Liverpool  submitted,  and  then  privateering  came  prominently  out 
as  the  lucrative  business  a  hundred  years  ago  during  the  French  wars,  that 
brought  Liverpool  great  wealth.  Next  followed  the  development  of  trade 
with  the  Kast  Indies,  and  finally  the  trade  with  America  has  grown  to  such 
enormous  proportions  in  the  present  century  as  to  eclipse  all  other  special 
branches  of  Liverpool  commerce,  large  as  some  of  them  are.  This  has  made 
many  princely  fortunes  for  the  merchants  and  shipowners,  and  their  wealth  has 
been  liberally  expended  in  beautifying  their  city.  It  has  in  recent  years  had 
very  rapid  growth,  and  has  greatly  increased  its  architectural  adornments. 
Most  amazing  has  been  this  advancement  since  the  time  in  the  last  century 
when  the  mayor  and  corporation  entertained  Prince  William  of  Gloucester 
at  dinner,  and,  pleased  at  the  appetite  he  developed,  one  of  them  called  out, 
"  Eat  away,  Your 
Royal  Highness ; 
there's  plenty  more 
in  the  kitchen  !" 
The  mayor  was 
Jonas  Bold,  and  af- 
terwards, taking  the 
prince  to  church, 
they  were  astonish- 
ed to  find  that  the 
preacher  had  taken 
for  his  text  the 
words,  "  Behold,  a 
greater  than  Jonas 
is  here." 

Liverpool  has  several  fine  buildings.  Its  Custom  House  is  a  large  Ionic 
structure  of  chaste  design,  with  a  tall  dome  that  can  be  seen  from  afar,  and 
richly  decorated  within.  The  Town  Hall  and  the  Exchange  buildings  make 
up  the  four  sides  of  an  enclosed  quadrangle  paved  with  broad  flagstones. 
Here,  around  the  attractive  Nelson  monument  in  the  centre,  the  merchants 
meet  and  transact  their  business.  The  chief  public  building  is  St.  George's 
Hall,  an  imposing  edifice,  surrounded  with  columns  and  raised  high  above  one 


ST.    GEORGE  S    HALL. 


2O  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


side  of  an  open  square,  and  costing  $2,000,000  to  build.  It  is  a  Corinthian 
building,  having  at  one  end  the  Great  Hall,  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  feet 
long,  where  public  meetings  are  held,  and  court-rooms  at  the  other  end. 
Statues  of  Robert  Peel,  Gladstone,  and  Stephenson,  with  other  great  men, 
adorn  the  Hall.  Sir  William  Brown,  who  amassed  a  princely  fortune  in  Liver- 
pool, has  presented  the  city  with  a  splendid  free  library  and  museum,  which 
stands  in  a  magnificent  position  on  Shaw's  Brow.  Many  of  the  streets  are 
lined  with  stately  edifices,  public  and  private,  and  most  of  these  avenues  diverge 
from  the  square  fronting  St.  George's  Hall,  opposite  which  is  the  fine  station 
of  the  London  and  North-western  Railway,  which,  as  is  the  railroad  custom  in 
England,  is  also  a  large  hotel.  The  suburbs  of  Liverpool  are  filled  for  a  wide 
circuit  with  elegant  rural  homes  and  surrounding  ornamental  grounds,  where 
the  opulent  merchants  live.  They  are  generally  bordered  with  high  stone 
walls,  interfering  with  the  view,  and  impressing  the  visitor  strongly  with  the 
idea  that  an  Englishman's  house  is  his  castle.  Several  pretty  parks  with  orna- 
mental lakes  among  their  hills  are  also  in  the  suburbs.  Yet  it  is  the  vast  trade 
that  is  the  glory  of  Liverpool,  for  it  is  ,but  an  epitome  of  England's  commercial 
greatness,  and  is  of  comparatively  modern  growth.  "  All  this,"  not  long  ago 
said  Lord  Erskine,  speaking  of  the  rapid  advancement  of  Liverpool,  "has  been 
created  by  the  industry  and  well-disciplined  management  of  a  handful  of  men 
since  I  was  a  boy." 

KNOWSLEY    HALL. 

A  few  miles  out  of  Liverpool  is  the  village  of  Prescot,  where  Kemble  the 
tragedian  was  born,  and  where  the  people  at  the  present  time  are  largely 
engaged  in  watchmaking.  Not  far  from  Prescot  is  one  of  the  famous  homes 
of  England — Knowsley  Hall,  the  seat  of  the  Stanleys  and  of  the  Earls  of 
Derby  for  five  hundred  years.  The  park  covers  two  thousand  acres  and  is 
almost  ten  miles  in  circumference.  The  greater  portion  of  the  famous  house 
was  built  in  the  time  of  George  II.  It  is  an  extensive  and  magnificent  struc- 
ture, and  contains  many  art-treasures  in  its  picture-gallery  by  Rembrandt, 
Rubens,  Correggio,  Teniers,  Vandyke,  Salvator  Rosa,  and  others.  The  Stan- 
leys are  one  of  the  governing  families  of  England,  the  last  Earl  of  Derby 
having  been  premier  in  1866,  and  the  present  earl  having  also  been  a  cabinet 
minister.  The  crest  of  the  Stanleys  represents  the  Eagle  and  the  Child,  and 
is  derived  from  the  story  of  a  remote  ancestor  who,  cherishing  an  ardent  desire 
for  a  male  heir,  and  having  only  a  daughter,  contrived  to  have  an  infant  con- 
veyed to  the  foot  of  a  tree  in  the  park  frequented  by  an  eagle.  Here  he  and 
his  lady,  taking  a  walk,  found  the  child  as  if  by  accident,  and  the  lady,  consider- 


THE  A  XCIEXT  CITY  OF  CHESTER. 


21 


ing  it  a  gift  from  Heaven  brought  by  the  eagle  and  miraculously  preserved, 
adopted  the  boy  as  her  heir.  From  this  time  the  crest  was  assumed,  but  we 
are  told  that  the  old  knight's  conscience  smote  him  at  the  trick,  and  on  his 
deathbed  he  bequeathed  the  chief  part  of  his  fortune  to  the  daughter,  from 
whom  are  descended  the  present  family. 

THE    ANCIKXT    CITY    OF    CHESTER. 

Not  far  from  Liverpool,  and  in  the  heart  of  Cheshire,  we  come  to  the  small 
but  famous  river  Dee  and  the  old  and  very  interesting  city  of  Chester.  It 
is  built  in  the  form  of  a  quadrant,  its  four  walls  enclosing  a  plot  about  a  half 
mile  square.  The  walls,  which  form  a  promenade  two  miles  around,  over 
which  every  visitor  should  tramp;  the  quaint  gates  and  towers;  the  "  Rows," 


EXTERIOR. — CHESTER  CATHEDRAL — INTERIOR. 

or  arcades  along  the  streets,  which  enable  the  sidewalks  to  pass  under  the 
upper  stories  of  the  houses  by  cutting  away  the  first-floor  front  rooms ;  and 
the  many  ancient  buildings, — are  all  attractive.  The  Chester  Cathedral  is  a 
venerable  building  of  red  sandstone,  which  comes  down  to  us  from  the  twelfth 
century,  though  it  has  recently  been  restored.  It  is  constructed  in  the  Perpen- 
dicular style  of  architecture,  with  a  square  and  turret-surmounted  central  tower. 
This  is  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Werburgh,  and  besides  other  merits  of  the  attrac- 
tive interior,  the  southern  transept  is  most  striking  from  its  exceeding  length. 


22 


EXGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


The  choir  is  richly  ornamented  with  carvings  and  fine  woodwork,  the  Bishop's 
Throne   having  originally   been   a   pedestal   for  the  shrine  of   St.  Werburgh. 

The  cathedral  contains  several  ancient 
tombs  of  much  interest,  and  the  elab- 
orate Chapter  Room,  with  its  Early 
English  windows  and  pillars,  is  much 
admired.  In  this  gorgeous  structure 
the  word  of  God  is  preached  from  a 
Bible  whose  magnificently-bound  cover 
is  inlaid  with  precious  stones  and  its 
markers  adorned  with  pearls.  The 
book  is  the  Duke  of  Westminster's 
gift,  that  nobleman  being  the  landlord 
of  much  of  Chester.  In  the  nave  of 
the  cathedral  are  two  English  battle- 
flags  that  were  at  Bunker  Hill.  Ches- 
ter Castle,  now  used  as  a  barrack  for 
troops,  has  only  one  part  of  the  ancient 
edifice  left,  called  Julius  Cssar's  Tower, 
near  which  the  Dee  is  spanned  by  a 
fine  single-arch  bridge. 


J 


JULIUS   CJESAR  S   TO\Vr,R. 

The  quaintest  part  of  this  curious  old  city  of 
Chester  is  no  doubt  the  "  Rows,"  above  referred 
to.  These  arcades,  which  certainly  form  a  capital 
shelter  from  the  hot  sun  or  rain,  were,  according 
to  one  authority,  originally  built  as  a  refuge  for 
the  people  in  case  of  sudden  attack  by  the  Welsh ; 
but  according  to  others  they  originated  with  the 
Romans,  and  were  used  as  the  vestibules  of  the 
houses ;  and  this  seems  to  be  the  more  popular 
theory  with  the  townsfolk.  Under  the  "  Rows  " 
are  shops  of  all  sizes,  and  some  of  the  buildings 
are  grotesquely  attractive,  especially  the  curious 
one  bearing  the  motto  of  safety  from  the  plague, 
"  God's  providence  is  mine  inheritance,"  stand- 
ing on  Watergate  street,  and  known  as  "  God's 
Providence  House  ;"  and  "  Bishop  Lloyd's  Palace," 
which  is  ornamented  with  quaint  wood-carvings. 
The  "  Old  Lamb  Row,"  where  Randall  Holme, 


ANCIENT    FRONT. 


CHESTER. 


the  Chester  antiquary,  lived,  stood  by  itself,  obeying  no  rule  of  regularity,  and 
was  regarded  as  a  nuisance  two  hundred  years  ago,  though  later  it  was  highly 

prized.  The  city  corpora- 
tion in  1670  ordered  that 
"the  nuisance  erected  by 
Randall  Holme  in  his  new 
building  in  Bridge  street 
be  taken  down,  as  it  annoys 
his  neighbors,  and  hinders 
their  prospect  from  their 
houses."  But  this  law 
s  ( ms  to  have  been  en- 
forced no  more  than  many 
o:hers  are  on  either  side 
of  the  ocean,  for  the  "  nui- 
sance "  stood  till  1821,  when 
tlie  greater  part  of  it,  the 

timbers  having  rotted,  fell  BISHOP  LLOYD'S  PALACE. 
of  its  own  accord.  The  "  Dark  Row "  is  the  only  one  of  these  strange 
arcades  that  is  closed  from  the  light,  for  it  forms  a  kind  of  tunnel  through 
which  the  footwalk  goes.  •  Not  far  from  this  is  the  famous  old  "  Stanley 
House,"  where  one  unfor- 
tunate Earl  of  Derby  spent 


the  last  day  before  his  ex- 
ecution in  1657  at  Bolton. 
The  carvings  on  the  iront 
of  this  house  are  very  fine, 
and  there  is  told  in  ref- 
erence to  the  mournful 
event  that  marks  its  his- 
tory the  following  story : 
Lieutenant  Smith  came 
from  the  governor  of 
Chester  to  notify  the  con- 
demned earl  to  be  ready 
for  the  journey  to  Bolton. 
The  earl  asked,  "When 
would  have  me  go?"  "To-morrow,  about  six  in  the  morning,"  said  Smith. 
"Well,"  replied  the  earl,  "commend  me  to  the  governor,  and  tell  him  I  shall 


"HTfT 


(ILL)    LAMB    ROW. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE   STANLEY    HOUSE,  FRONT. 


be  ready  by  that  time."      Then   said  Smith,  "  Doth  your  lordship  know  any 
friend  or  servant  that  would  do  the  thing  your  lordship  knows  of?     It  would 

do  well  if  you  had  a  friend." 
The  earl  replied,  "  What  do 
you  mean  ?  to  cut  off  my 
head?"  Smith  said,  "Yes, 
my  lord,  if  you  could  have 
a  friend."  The  earl  an- 
swered, "  Nay,  sir,  if  those 
men  that  would  have  my 
head  will  not  find  one  to 
cut  it  off,  let  it  stand  where 
it  is." 

It  is  easy  in  this  strange 
old  city  to  carry  back  the 
imagination  for  centuries,  for  it  preserves  its  connection  with  the  past  better 
perhaps  than  any  other  English  town.  The  city  holds  the  keys  of  the  outlet 
of  the  Dee,  which  winds  around  it  on  two  sides,  and  is  practically  one  of  the 
gates  into  Wales.  Naturally,  the  Romans  established  a  fortress  here  more 
than  a  thousand  years  ago,  and  made  it  the  head-quarters  of  their  twentieth 
legion,  who  impressed  upon  the  town  the  formation  of  a  Roman  camp,  which 
it  bears  to  this  day.  The 
very  name  of  Chester  is 
derived  from  the  Latin 
word  for  a  camp.  Many 
Roman  fragments  still  re- 
main, the  most  notable  be- 
ing the  Hyptocaust.  This 
was  found  in  Watergate 
street  about  a  century  ago, 
together  with  a  tessellated 
pavement.  There  have 
also  been  exhumed  Ro- 
man altars,  tombs,  mo- 
saics, pottery  and  other 
similar  relics.  The  city  is 
built  upon  a  sandstone  rock,  and  this  furnishes  much  of  the  building  material, 
so  that  most  of  the  edifices  have  their  exteriors  disintegrated  by  the  elements, 
particularly  the  churches — a  peculiarity  that  may  have  probably  partly  justified 


U11K  STANLEY   HOUSE,    REAR. 


CHESTER. 


Dean  Swift's  epigram,  written  when  his  bile 
was  stirred  because  a  rainstorm  had  pre- 
vented some  of  the  Chester  clergy  from 
dining  with  him : 

"  Churches  and  clergy  of  this  city 

Are  very  much  akin  : 
They're  weather-beaten  all  without, 
And  empty  all  within." 

The  modernized  suburbs  of  Chester, 
filled  with  busy  factories,  are  extending 
beyond  the  walls  over  a  larger  surface 
than  the  ancient  town  itself.  At  the  an- 
gles of  the  old  walls  stand  the  famous 
towers — the  Phoenix  Tower,  Bonwaldes- 
thorne's  Tower,  Morgan's  Mount,  the 
Goblin  Tower,  and  the  Water  Tower, 
while  the  gates  in  the  walls  are  almost 


THE   PHCEM.s.   TOWER. 


equally  famous — the  Eastgate.Northgate, 
Watergate,  Bridgegate,  Newgate,  and 
Peppergate.  The  ancient  Abbey  of  St. 
Mary  had  its  site  near  the  castle,  and 
not  far  away  are  the  picturesque  ruins 
of  St.  John's  Chapel,  outside  the  walls. 
According  to  a  local  legend,  its  neigh- 
borhood had  the  honor  of  sheltering  an 
illustrious  fugitive.  Harold,  the  Saxon 
king,  we  are  told,  did  not  fall  at  Hast- 
ings, but,  escaping,  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  life  as  a  hermit,  dwelling  in  a  cell 
near  this  chapel  and  on  a  cliff  alongside 
the  Dee.  The  four  streets  leading  from 
the  gates  at  the  middle  of  each  side  of 
the  town  come  together  in  the  centre 
at  a  place  formerly  known  as  the  "  Pen- 
tise,"  where  was  located  the  bull-ring  at 


THE   WATER   TOWER. 


26 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


which  was  anciently  carried  on  the  refining  sport 
ot  "  bull-baiting  "  while  the  mayor  and  corpora- 
tion, clad  in  their  gowns  of  office,  looked  on  ap- 
provingly. Prior  to  this  sport  beginning,  we  are 
told  that  solemn  proclamation  was  made  for  "  the 

safety  of  the  king  and  the  mayor  of  Chester" 

that  "  if  any  man  stands  within  twenty  yards  of 
the  bull-ring,  let  him  take  what  comes."  Here 
stood  also  the  stocks  and  pillory.  Amid  so 
much  that  is  ancient  and  quaint,  the  new  Town 
Hall,  a  beautiful  structure  recently  erected,  is 
naturally  most  attractive,  its  dedication  to  civic 
uses  having  been 
made  by  the  present 
Prince  of  Wales,  who 
GATE.  bears  among  many 

titles  that  of  Earl   of  Chester.      But  this   is  about 

the    only   modern    attraction    this    interesting    city 

possesses.     At  an  angle  of  the  walls  are  the  "  Dee 

Mills,"  as  old  as    the   Norman   Conquest,'  and   fa- 
mous in  song  as  the  place  where  the  "jolly  miller 

once  lived  on  the  Uee."     Full  of  attractions  within 

and  without,  it  is  difficult  to  tear  one's  self  away 

from  this  quaint  city,  and  therefore   we  will  agree, 

at    least   in   one   sense,   with    Dr.   Johnson's    blunt       RUINS  OF  ST.  JOHN'S  CHAPEL. 

remark  to  a  lady  friend :  "  I  have  come  to  Chester,  madam,  I  cannot  tell  how, 

and  far  less  can  I  tell  how  to  get  away  from  it." 

CHESHIRE. 

The  county  of  Cheshire  has  other  attractions.  But  a  short  distance  from 
Chester,  in  the  valley  of  the  Dee,  is  Eaton  Hall,  the  elaborate  palace  of  the 
Duke  of  Westminster  and  one  of  the  finest  seats  in  England,  situated  in  a 
park  of  eight  hundred  acres  that  extends  to  the  walls  of  Chester.  This  palace 
has  recently  been  almost  entirely  rebuilt  and  modernized,  and  is  now  the  most 
spacious  and  splendid  example  of  Revived  Gothic  architecture  in  England.  The 
house  contains  many  works  of  art — statues  by  Gibson,  paintings  by  Rubens  and 
others — and  is  full  of  the  most  costly  and  beautiful  decorations  and  furniture, 
being  essentially  one  of  the  show-houses  of  Britain.  In  the  extensive  gardens 
are  a  Roman  altar  found  in  Chester  and  a  Greek  altar  brought  from  Delphi. 


CHESHIRE.  27 


At  Hawarden  Castle,  seven  miles  from  Chester,  is  the  home  of  William  E. 
Gladstone,  and  in  its  picturesque  park  are  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  castle, 
dating  from  the  time  of  the  Tudors,  and  from  the  keep  of  which  there  is  a  fine 
view  of  the  Valley  of  the  Dee.  The  ruins  of  Ewloe  Castle,  six  hundred  years 
old,  are  not  far  away,  but  so  buried  in  foliage  that  they  are  difficult  to  find. 
Two  miles  from  Chester  is  Hoole  House,  formerly  Lady  Broughton's,  famous 
for  its  rockwork,  a  lawn  of  less  than  an  acre  exquisitely  planted  with  clipped 
yews  and  other  trees  being  surrounded  by  a  rockery  over  forty  feet  high.  In 
the  Wirral  or  Western  Cheshire  are  several  attractive  villages.  At  Bidston, 
west  of  Birkenhead  and  on  the  sea-coast,  is  the  ancient  house  that  was  once 
the  home  of  the  unfortunate  Earl  of  Derby,  whose  execution  is  mentioned 
above.  Congleton,  in  Eastern  Cheshire,  stands  on  the  Dane,  in  a  lovely 
country,  and  is  a  good  example  of  an  old  English  country-town.  Its  Lion 
Inn  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  ancient  black-and-white  gabled  hostelrie  which 
novelists  love  so  well  to  describe.  At  Nantwich  is  a  curious  old  house  with  a 
heavy  octagonal  bow-window  in  the  upper  story  overhanging  a  smaller  lower 
one,  telescope-fashion.  The  noble  tower  of  Nantwich  church  rises  above,  and 
the  building  is  in  excellent  preservation. 

Nearly  in  the  centre  of  Cheshire  is  the  stately  fortress  of  Beeston  Castle, 
standing  on  a  sandstone  rock  rising  some  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet  from 
the  flat  country.  It  was  built  nearly  seven  hundred  years  ago  by  an  Earl  of 
Cheshire,  then  just  returned  from  the  Crusades.  Standing  in  an  irregular 
court  covering  about  five  acras,  its  thick  walls  and  deep  ditch  made  it  a  place 
of  much  strength.  It  was  ruined  prior  to  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  having  been 
long  contended  for  and  finally  dismantled  in  the  \Vars  of  the  Roses.  Being 
then  rebuilt,  it  became  a  famous  fortress  in  the  Civil  Wars,  having  been  seized 
by  the  Roundheads,  then  surprised  and  taken  by  the  Royalists,  alternately 
besieged  and  defended  afterward,  and  finally  starved  into  surrender  by  the 
Parliamentary  troops  in  1645.  This  was  King  Charles's  final  struggle,  though 
the  castle  did  not  succumb  till  after  eighteen  weeks'  siege,  and  its  defenders 
were  forced  to  eat  cats  and  rats  to  satisfy  hunger,  and  were  reduced  to  only 
sixty.  Beeston  Castle  was  then  finally  dismantled,  and  its  ruins  are  now  an 
attraction  to  the  tourist.  Lea  Hall,  an  ancient  and  famous  timbered  mansion, 
surrounded  by  a  moat,  was  situated  about  six  miles  from  Chester,  but  the  moat 
alone  remains  to  show  where  it  stood.  Here  lived  Sir  Hugh  Calveley,  one  of 
Froissart's  heroes,  who  was  governor  of  Calais  when  it  was  held  by  the  Eng- 
lish, and  is  buried  under  a  sumptuous  tomb  in  the  church  of  the  neighboring 
college  of  Bunbury,  which  he  founded.  His  armed  effigy  surmounts  the  tomb, 
and  the  inscription  says  he  died  on  St.  George's  Day,  1394. 


28 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE    RIVER    DEE. 

Frequent  reference  has  been  made  to  the  river  Dee,  the  Deva  of  the  Welsh, 
which  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  finest  streams  of  Britain.  It  rises  in  the 
Arran  Fowddwy,  one  of  the  chief  Welsh  mountains,  nearly  three  thousand  feet 
high,  and  after  a  winding  course  of  about  seventy  miles  falls  into  the  Irish  Sea. 
This  renowned  stream  has  been  the  theme  of  many  a  poet,  and  after  expand- 
ing near  its  source  into  the  beautiful  Bala  Lake,  whose  bewitching  surroundings 
are  nearly  all  described  in  polysyllabic  and  unpronounceable  Welsh  names,  and 
are  popular  among  artists  and  anglers,  it  flows  through  Edeirnim  Vale,  past 
Corwen.  Here  a  pathway  ascends  to  the  eminence  known  as  Glendower's 
Seat,  with  which  tradition  has  closely  knit  the  name  of  the  Welsh  hero,  the 
close  of  whose  marvellous  career  marked  the  termination  of  Welsh  independ- 


PLAS   NEWYDD,    LLANGOLLEN. 

ence.  Then  the  romantic  Dee  enters  the  far-famed  Valley  of  Llangollen,  where 
tourists  love  to  roam,  and  where  lived  the  "  Ladies  of  Llangollen."  We  are 
told  that  these  two  high-born  dames  had  many  lovers,  but,  rejecting  all  and 
enamored  only  of  each  other,  Lady  Butler  and  Miss  Ponsonby,  the  latter  sixteen 
years  the  junior  of  the  former,  determined  on  a  life  of  celibacy.  They  eloped 
together  from  Ireland,  were  overtaken  and  brought  back,  and  then  a  second 
time  decamped — on  this  occasion  in  masquerade,  the  elder  dressed  as  a,  peasant 


THE  RIVER   DEE. 


29 


and  the  younger  as  a  smart  groom  in  top-boots.  Escaping  pursuit,  they  settled 
in  Llangollen  in  1778  at  the  quaint  little  house  called  Plas  Newydd,  and  lived 
there  together  for  a  half  century.  Their  costume  was  extraordinary,  for  they 
appeared  in  public  in  blue  riding-habits,  men's  neckcloths,  and  high  hats,  with 
their  hair  cropped  short.  They  had  antiquarian  tastes,  which  led  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  a  vast  lot  of  old  wood-carvings  and  stained  glass,  gathered  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  and  worked  into  the  fittings 
and  adornment  of  their  home.  They  were  on 
excellent  terms  with  all  the  neighbors,  and  the 
elder  died  in  1829,  aged  ninety,  and  the  younger 
two  years  afterward,  aged  seventy-six.  Their  re- 
mains lie  in  Llangollen  churchyard. 

Within  this  famous  valley  are  the  ruins  of  Yalle- 
Crucis  Abbey,  the  most  picturesque  abbey  ruin 
in  North  Wales.  An  adjacent  stone  cross  gave 
it  the  name  six  hundred  years  ago,  when  it  was 
built  by  the  great  Madoc  for  the  Cistercian  monks. 
The  ruins  in  some  parts  are  now  availed  of  for 
farm-houses.  Fine  ash  trees  bend  over  the  ruined 
arches,  ivy  climbs  the  clustered  columns,  and  the 
lancet  windows  with  their'  delicate  tracery  are 
much  admired.  The  remains  consist  of  the 
church,  abbot's  lodgings,  refectory,  and  dormi- 
tory. The  church  was  cruciform,  and  is  now  nearly  roofless,  though  the  east 
and  west  ends  and  the  southern  transept  are  tolerably  perfect,  so  that  much  of 
the  abbey  remains.  It  was  occupied  by  the  Cistercians,  and  was  dedicated  to 
the  Virgin  Mary.  The  ancient  cross,  of  which  the  remains  are  still  standing 
near  by,  is  Eliseg's  Pillar,  erected  in  the  seventh  century  as  a  memorial  of  that 
Welsh  prince.  It  was  one  of  the  earliest  lettered  stones  in  Britain,  standing 
originally  about  twelve  feet  high.  From  this  cross  came  the  name  of  Valle 
Crucis,  which  in  the  thirteenth  century  was  given  to  the  famous  abbey.  The 
great  Madoc,  who  lived  in  the  neighboring  castle  of  Dinas  Bran,  built  this 
abbey  to  atone  for  a  life  of  violence.  The  ruins  of  his  castle  stand  on  a  hill 
elevated  about  one  thousand  feet  above  the  Dee.  Bran  in  Welsh  means  crow, 
so  that  the  English  know  it  as  Crow  Castle.  From  its  ruins  there  is  a  beautiful 
view  over  the  Valley  of  Llangollen.  Farther  down  the  valley  is  the  mansion 
of  Wynnstay,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  and  richly  wooded  park,  a  circle  of  eight 
miles  enclosing  the  superb  domain,  within  which  are  herds  of  fallow-deer  and 
many  noble  trees.  The  old  mansion  was  burnt  in  1858,  and  an  imposing  struc- 


RUINS    OF   VALLE-CRUCIS    ABBEY. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


ture  in  Renaissance  now  occupies  the 
site.  Fine  paintings  adorn  the  walls  by 
renowned  artists,  and  the  Dee  foams 
over  its  rocky  bed  in  a  sequestered  dell 
near  the  mansion.  Memorial  columns 
and  tablets  in  the  park  mark  notable  men  and  events  in  the  Wynn  family, 
the  chief  being  the  Waterloo  Tower,  ninety  feet  high.  Far  away  down 
the  valley  a  noble  aqueduct  by  Telford  carries  the  Ellesmere  Canal  over  the 
Dee — the  Font  Cysylltau — supported  on  eighteen  piers  of  masonry  at  an 

elevation    of    one    hundred 

_ 

and  twenty-one  feet,  while 

a    mile    below    is    the    still 

•    i 

more  imposing  viaduct  car- 
rying the  Great  Western 
Railway  across. 

Not  far  distant  is  Chirk 
Castle,  now  the  home  of  Mr. 
R.  Mycldelton  Biddulph,  a 
combination  of  a  feudal  fort- 
ress and  a  modern  mansion. 
The  ancient  portion,  still 
preserved,  was  built  by  Roger  Mortimer,  to  whom  Edward  I.  granted  the  lord- 
ship of  Chirk.  It  was  a  bone  of  contention  during  the  Civil  Wars,  and  when 


PONT    CYSYLLTAU. 


THE  RIVER   DEE. 


they  were  over,  £1  50,000  were  spent  in  repairing  the  great  quadrangular  fort- 
r>  ss.  It  stands  in  a  noble  situation,  and  on  a  clear  day  portions  of  seventeen 
counties  can  be  seen  from  the  summit.  Still  following  down  the  picturesque 
river,  we  come  to  Bangor-ys-Coed,  or  "Bangor-in-the-.Wood,"  in  Flintshire, 
once  the  seat  of  a  fa- 
mous monastery  that 
disappeared  twelve 
hundred  years  ago. 
1  L-re  a  pretty  bridge 
crosses  the  river,  and  a 
modern  church  is  the 
most  prominent  struc- 
ture in  the  village.  The 
old  monastery  is  said 
to  have  been  the  home 
of  twenty-four  hun- 
dred monks,  one  half 
of  whom  were  slain  in 
a  battle  near  Chester 
by  the  heathen  king 
Ethelfrith,  who  after- 
wards sacked  the  mon- 
astery, but  the  Welsh 
soon  gathered  their 
forces  again  and  took 
terrible  vengeance. 
Many  ancient  coffins 
and  Roman  remains 
have  been  found  here. 
The  Dee  now  runs 
with  swift  current  past 
Overton  to  the  ancient 
town  of  Holt,  whose 
charter  is  nearly  five 
hundred  vears  old,  but 

J  WREXHAM     TOWKR. 

whose    importance    is 

now  much  less  than  of  yore.  Holt  belongs  to  the  debatable  Powisland,  the 
strip  of  territory  over  which  the  English  and  Welsh  fought  for  centuries.  Holt 
was  tormerly  known  as  Lyons,  and  was  a  Roman  outpost  of  Chester.  Edward 


32 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


I.  granted  it  to  Earl  Warren,  who  built  Holt  Castle,  of  which  only  a  few  quaint 
pictures  now  exist,  though  it  was  a  renowned  stronghold  in  its  day.  It  was  a 
five-sided  structure  with  a  tower  on  each  corner,  enclosing  an  ample  court- 
yard. After  standing  several  sieges  in  the  Civil  Wars  of  Cromwell's  time,  the 
battered  castle  was  dismantled. 

The  famous  Wrexham  Church,  whose  tower  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  "  seven 


THE    KOODEE,    FROM    THE    KAlLWAY-BRIDCili. 

wonders  of  Wales,"  is  three  miles  from  Holt,  and  is  four  hundred  years  old. 
Few  churches  built  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  can  compare  with  this. 
It  is  dedicated  to  St.  Giles,  and  statues  of  him  and  of  twenty-nine  other  saints 
embellish  niches  in  the  tower.  Alongside  of  St.  Giles  is  the  hind  that  nourished 
him  in  the  desert.  The  bells  of  Wrexham  peal  melodiously  over  the  valley, 
and  in  the  vicarage  the  good  Bishop  Heber  wrote  the  favorite  hymn,  "  From 
Greenland's  Icy  Mountains."  Then  the  Dee  flows  on  past  the  ducal  palace  of 
Eaton  Hall,  and  encircles  Chester,  which  has  its  race-course,  "The  Roodee  " 
where  they  hold  an  annual  contest  in  May  for  the  "Chester  Cup"— enclosed  by 


l-LIM    A\l>    DKMllGH. 


33 


a  beautiful  semicircle  of  the  river.  Then  the  Dee  flows  on  through  a  straight 
channel  for  six  miles  to  its  estuary,  which  broadens  among  treacherous  sands 
and  flats  between  Flintshire  and  Cheshire,  till  it  falls  into  the  Irish  Sea.  Many 
are  the  tales  of  woe  that  are  told  of  the  "  Sands  o'  L)ee,"  along  which  the 
railway  from  Chester  to  Holyhead  skirts  the  edge  in  Flintshire.  Many  a  poor 


1  SANDS    t>      1)1. 1! 


girl,  sent  for  the  cattle  wandering  on  these  sands,  has  been  lost  in  the  mist  that 
rises  from  the  sea,  and  drowned  by  the  quickly  rushing  waters.  Kingsley  has 
plaintively  told  the  story  in  his  mournful  poem: 


1  They  rowed  her  in  across  the  rolling  foam — 
The  cruel,  crawling  foam, 
The  cruel,  hungry  foam — 
To  her  grave  beside  the  sea  ; 

But  still  the  boatmen  hear  her  call  her  cattle  home 
Across  the  Sands  o'  Dec." 


FLINT    AND    DENBIGH. 

Let  us  now  journey  westward  from  the  Dee  into  Wales,  coming  first  into 
Flintshire.  The  town  of  Flint,  it  is  conjectured,  was  originally  a  Roman  camp, 
from  the  design  and  the  antiquities  found  there.  Edward  I.,  six  hundred  years 
ago,  built  Flint  Castle  upon  an  isolated  rock  in  a  marsh  near  the  river,  and 
after  a  checquered  history  it  was  dismantled  in  the  seventeenth  century.  From 
the  railway  between  Chester  and  Holyhead  the  ruins  of  this  castle  are  visible 
on  its  low  freestone  rock ;  it  is  a  square,  with  round  towers  at  three  of  the 
corners,  and  a  massive  keep  at  the  other,  formed  like  a  double  tower  and 
detached  from  the  main  castle.  This  was  the  "  dolorous  castle "  into  which 
Richard  II.  was  inveigled  at  the  beginning  of  his  imprisonment,  which  ended 
with  abdication,  and  finally  his  death  at  Pomfret.  The  story  is  told  that  Richard 


34  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A XI)    1>ESCRI1'TI\'E. 


had  a  fine  greyhound  at  Flint  Castle  that  often  caressed  him,  but  when  the- 
Duke  of  Lancaster  came  there  the  greyhound  suddenly  left  Richard  and 
caressed  the  duke,  who,  not  knowing  the  dog,  asked  Richard  what  it  meant. 
"  Cousin,"  replied  the  king,  "  it  means  a  great  deal  for  you  and  very  little  for 
me.  I  understand  by  it  that  this  greyhound  pays  his  court  to  you  as  King  of 
England,  which  you  will  surely  be,  and  I  shall  be  deposed,  for  the  natural 
instinct  of  the  dog  shows  it  to  him  ;  keep  him,  therefore,  by  your  side."  Lan- 
caster treasured  this,  and  paid  attention  to  the  dog,  which  would  nevermore 
follow  Richard,  but  kept  by  the  side  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  "as  was  wit- 
nessed," says  the  chronicler  Froissart,  "  by  thirty  thousand  men." 

Rhucldlan  Castle,  also  in  Flintshire,  is  a  red  sandstone  ruin  of  striking  appear- 
ance, standing  on  the  Clwyd  River.  When  it  was  founded  no  one  knows  accu- 
rately, but  it  was  rebuilt  seven  hundred  years  ago,  and  was  dismantled,  like? 
many  other  Welsh  castles,  in  1646.  It  was  at  Rhuddlan  that  Edward  I.  prom- 
ised the  Welsh  "  a  native  prince  who  never  spoke  a  word  of  English,  and  whose 
life  and  conversation  no  man  could  impugn ;"  and  this  promise  he  fulfilled  to 
the  letter  by  naming  as  the  first  English  Prince  of  Wales  his  infant  son,  then 
just  born  at  Caernarvon  Castle.  Six  massive  towers  flank  the  walls  of  this 
famous  castle,  and  are  in  tolerably  fair  preservation.  Not  far  to  the  southward 
is  the  eminence  known  by  the  Welsh  as  "  Yr-Wyddgrug,"  or  "a  lofty  hill," 
and  which  the  English  call  Mold.  On  this  hill  was  a  castle  of  which  little 
remains  now  but  tracings  of  the  ditches,  larches  and  other  trees  peacefully- 
growing  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  stronghold.  Off  toward  Wrexham  are 
the  ruins  of  another  castle,  known  as  Caergwrle,  or  "  the  camp  of  the  giant 
legion."  This  was  of  Welsh  origin,  and  commanded  the  entrance  to  the  Yale 
of  Alen  ;  the  English  called  it  Hope  Castle. 

Adjoining  Flintshire  is  Denbigh,  with  the  quiet  \vatering-placc  of  Abergele 
out  on  the  Irish  Sea.  About  two  miles  away  is  St.  Asaph,  with  its  famous 
cathedral,  having  portions  elating  from  the  thirteenth  century.  The  great 
castle  of  Denbigh,  when  in  its  full  glory,  had  fortifications  one  and  a  half 
miles  in  circumference.  It  stood  on  a  steep  hill  at  the  county-town,  where 
scanty  ruins  now  remain,  consisting  chiefly  of  an  immense  gateway  with 
remains  of  flanking  towers.  Above  the  entrance  is  a  statue  of  the  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  its  founder  in  the  thirteenth  century.  His  only  son  was  drowned  in 
the  castle-well,  which  so  affected  the  father  that  he  did  not  finish  the  castle. 
Edward  II.  gave  Denbigh  to  Despenser;  Leicester  owned  it  in  Elizabeth's 
time  ;  Charles  II.  dismantled  it.  The  ruins  impress  the  visitor  with  the  stu- 
pendous strength  of  the  immense  walls  of  this  stronghold,  while  extensive 
passages  and  dungeons  have  been  explored  beneath  the  surface  for  long  dis- 


Til!-:    ME.\AI   STRAIT.  35 


tances.  In  one  chamber  near  the  entrance-tower,  which  had  been  walled  up, 
a  large  amount  of  gunpowder  was  found.  At  Holywell,  now  the  second  town 
in  North  Wales,  is  the  shrine  to  which  pilgrims  have  been  going  for  many  cen- 
turies. At  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill,  from  an  aperture  in  the  rock,  there  rushes 
forth  a  torrent  of  water  at  the  rate  of  eighty-four  hogsheads  a  minute ;  whether 
the  season  be  wet  or  be  dry,  the  sacred  stream  gushing  forth  from  St.  Wini- 
frede's  Well  varies  but  little,  and  around  it  grows  the  fragrant  moss  known  as 
St.  Winifrede's  Hair.  The  spring  has  valuable  medicinal  virtues,  and  an  ele- 
gant dome  covering  it  supports  a  chapel.  The  little  building  is  an  exquisite 
Gothic  structure  built  by  Henry  VII.  A  second  basin  is  provided,  into  which 
bathers  may  descend.  The  pilgrims  to  this  holy  well  have  of  late  years 
decreased  in  numbers;  James  II.,  who,  we  are  told,  "lost  three  kingdoms  for 
a  mass,"  visited  this  well  in  1686,  and  "  received  as  a  reward  the  undergarment 
worn  by  his  great-grandmother,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  on  the  day  of  her  exe- 
cution." This  miraculous  spring  gets  its  name  from  the  pious  virgin  Winifrede. 
She  having  been  seen  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Caradoc,  he  was  struck  by  her 
great  beauty  and  attempted  to  carry  her  off;  she  fled  to  the  church,  the  prince 
pursuing,  and,  overtaking  her,  he  in  rage  drew  his  sword  and  struck  off  her 
head;  the  severed  head  bounded  through  the  church-door  and  rolled  to  the 
foot  of  the  altar.  On  the  spot  where  it  rested  a  spring  of  uncommon  size 
burst  forth.  The  pious  priest  took  up  the  head,  and  at  his  prayer  it  was  united 
to  the  body,  and  the  virgin,  restored  to  life,  lived  in  sanctity  for  fifteen  years 
afterwards ;  miracles  were  wrought  at  her  tomb ;  the  spring  proved  another 
Pool  of  Bethesda,  and  to  this  clay  we  are  told  that  the  votive  crutches  and 
chairs  left  by  the  cured  remain  hanging  over  St.  Winifrede's  Well. 

South  of  Denbigh,  in  Montgomeryshire,  are  the  ruins  of  Montgomery  Cas- 
tle, long  a  frontier  fortress  of  Wales,  around  which  many  hot  contests  have 
raged ;  a  fragment  of  a  tower  and  portions  of  the  walls  are  all  that  remain. 
Powys  Castle  is  at  Welsh  Pool,  and  is  still  preserved — a  red  sandstone  structure 
on  a  rocky  elevation  in  a  spacious  and  well-wooded  park  ;  Sir  Robert  Smirke 
has  restored  it. 

THK    MEXAI    STRAIT. 

Still  journeying  westward,  we  come  to  Caernarvonshire,  and  reach  the 
remarkable  estuary  dividing  the  mainland  from  the  island  of  Anglesea,  and 
known  as  the  Menai  Strait.  This  narrow  stream,  with  its  steeply-sloping 
banks  and  winding  shores,  looks  more  like  a  river  than  a  strait,  and  it  every- 
where discloses  evidence  of  the  residence  of  an  almost  pre-historic  people  in 
relics  of  nations  that  inhabited  its  banks  before  the  invasion  of  the  Romans. 


ENGLAND.  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


There  are  hill-forts,  sepulchral  mounds,  pillars  of  stone,  rude  pottery,  weapons 
of  stone  and  bronze ;  and  in  that  early  day  Mona  itself,  as  Anglesea  was  called, 
was  a  sacred  island.  Here  were  fierce  struggles  between  Roman  and  Briton, 
and  Tacitus  tells  of  the  invasion  of  Mona  by  the  Romans  and  the  desperate 
conflicts  that  ensued  as  early  as  A.  u.  60.  The  history  of  the  strait  is  a  story 


THE    MENAI    STRAIT. 


of  almost  unending  war  for  centuries,  and  renowned  castles  bearing  the  scars 
of  these  conflicts  keep  watch  and  ward  to  this  clay.  Beaumaris,  Bangor, 
Caernarvon,  and  Conway  castles  still  remain  in  partial  ruin  to  remind  us  of 
the  Welsh  wars  of  centuries  ago.  On  the  Anglesea  shore,  at  the  northern 
entrance  to  the  strait,  is  the  picturesque  ruin  of  Beaumaris  Castle,  built  by 
Edward  I.  at  a  point  where  vessels  could  conveniently  land.  It  stands  on  the 
lowlands,  and  a  canal  connects  its  ditch  with  the  sea.  It  consists  of  a  hexag- 
onal line  of  outer  defences  surrounding  an  inner  square.  Round  towers 
flanked  the  outer  walls,  and  the  chapel  within  is  quite  well  preserved.  It  has 
not  had  much  place  in  history,  and  the  neighboring  town  is  now  a  peaceful 
watering-place. 


THE  MEXAI  STRAIT. 


37 


Across  the  strait  is  Bangor,  a  rather  straggling  town,  with  a  cathedral  that  is 
not  very  old.    We  are  told  that  its  bishop  once  sold  its  peal  of  bells,  and,  going 


I'.KAIMAKIS    CASTLE. 


down  to  the  shore  to  see  them  shipped  away,  was  stricken  blind  as  a  punishment 
for  the  sacrilege.  Of  Bangor  Castle,  as.  it  originally  stood,  but  insignificant  traces 
remain,  but  Lord  Penrhyn  has  recently  erected  in  the  neighborhood  the  impos- 


BANGOR   CATHEDRAL. 


ing  castle  of  Penryhn,  a  massive  pile  of  dark  limestone,  in  which  the  endeavor 
is  made  to  combine  a  Norman  feudal  castle  with  a  modern  dwelling,  though 
with  only  indifferent  success,  excepting  in  the  expenditure  involved.  The 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND 


roads  from  the  great  suspension-bridge  across  the  strait  lead  on  either  hand 
to  Bangor  and  Beaumaris,  although  the  route  is  rather  circuitous.  This  bridge, 
crossing  at  the  narrowest  and  most  beautiful  part  of  the  strait,  was  long 
regarded  as  the  greatest  triumph  of  bridge-engineering.  It  carried  the  Holy- 
head  high-road  across  the  strait,  and  was  built  by  Telford.  The  bridge  is  five 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  feet  long,  and  stands  one  hundred  feet  above  high- 
_  water  mark  ;  it  cost  $600,000.  Above  the  bridge  the  strait  widens,  and  here, 
amid  the  swift-flowing  currents,  the  famous  whitebait  are  caught  for  the  London 
epicures.  Three-quarters  of  a  mile  below,  at  another  narrow  place,  the  rail- 
way crosses  the  strait  through  Stephenson's  Britannia  tubular  bridge,  which  is 
more  useful  than  ornamental,  the  railway  passing  through  two  long  rectangular 
iron  tubes,  supported  on  plain  massive  pillars.  From  a  rock  in  the  strait  the 
central  tower  rises  to  a  height  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  and  other  towers 
are  built  on  each  shore  at  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  sixty  feet  from  the 
central  one.  Couchant  lions  carved  in  stone  guard  the  bridge-portals  at  each 
end,  and  this  famous  viaduct  cost  over  $2,500,000.  A  short  distance  below  the 
Anglesea  Column  towers  above  a  dark  rock  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  strait. 
It  was  erected  in  honor  of  the  first  Marquis  of  Anglesea,  the  gallant  com- 
mander of  the  British  light  cavalry  at  Waterloo,  where  his  leg  was  carried 
away  by  one  of  the  last  French  cannon-shots.  For  many  years  after  the  great 
victory  he  lived  here,  literally  with  "  one  foot  in  the  grave."  Plas  Newydd, 
one  and  a  half  miles  below,  the  Anglesea  family  residence,  where  the  mar- 
quis lived,  is  a  large  and  unattractive  mansion,  beautifully  situated  on  the 
sloping  shore.  It  has  in  the  park  two  ancient  sepulchral  monuments  of  great 
interest  to  the  antiquarian. 

C  A  V.  K  X  A  K  Y  O  N    AND    CO  N  \Y  A  Y  . 

As  the  famous  strait  widens  below  the  bridges  the  shores  are  tamer,  and  we 
come  to  the  famous  Caernarvon  Castle,  the  scene  of  many  stirring  military 
events,  as  it  held  the  key  to  the  valleys  of  Snowdon,  and  behind  it  towers  that 
famous  peak,  the  highest  mountain  in  Britain,  whose  summit  rises  to  a  height 
of  3590  feet.  This  great  castle  also  commanded  the  south-western  entrance 
to  the  strait,  and  near  it  the  rapid  little  Sciont  River  flows  into  the  sea.  The 
ancient  Britons  had  a  fort  here,  and  afterwards  it  was  a  Roman  fortified  camp, 
which  gradually  developed  into  the  city  of  Segontium.  The  British  name,  from 
which  the  present  one  comes,  was  Caer-yn-Arvon  —  "  the  castle  opposite  to 
Mona."  Segontium  had  the  honor  of  being  the  birthplace  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  and  many  Roman  remains  still  exist  there.  It  was  in  1284,  how- 
ever, that  Edward  I.  began  building  the  present  castle,  and  it  took  thirty-nine 


c.-u-:  A:\.-I  A  r<>.\-  ,i\/>  co\ir,iv. 


39 


years  to  complete.  The  castle  plan  is  an  irregular  oval,  with  one  side  over- 
looking the  strait.  At  the  end  nearest  the  sea,  where  the  works  come  to  a 

o 

blunt  point,  is  the  famous  Eagle  Tower,  which  has  eagles  sculptured  on  the 
battlements.  There  are  twelve  towers  altogether,  and  these,  with  the  light- 
and  dark-hued  stone  in  the  walls,  give  the  castle  a  massive  yet  graceful  aspect 
as  it  stands  on  the  low  ground  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sciont.  Externally,  the 
castle  is  in  good  preservation,  but  the  inner  buildings  are  partly  destroyed,  as 
is  also  the  Queen's  Gate,  where  Queen  Eleanor  is  said  to  have  entered  before 
the  first  English  Prince  of  Wales  was  born.  A  corridor,  with  loopholes  con- 


CAERNARVON   CASTLE. 


trived  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls,  runs  entirely  around  the  castle,  and  from 
this  archers  could  fight  an  approaching  enemy.  This  great  fortress  has  been 
called  the  "boast  of  North  Wales  "  from  its  size  and  excellent  position.  It 
was  last  used  for  defence  during  the  Civil  Wars,  having  been  a  military  strong- 
hold for  nearly  four  centuries.  Although  Charles  II.  issued  a  warrant  for  its 
demolition,  this  was  to  a  great  extent  disregarded.  Prynne,  the  sturdy  Puritan, 
was  confnvd  here  in  Charles  I.'s  time,  and  the  first  English  Prince  of  Wales, 
afterwards  the  unfortunate  Edward  II.,  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  a  little  dark 
room,  only  twelve:  by  eight  feet,  in  the  Eagle  Tower:  when  seventeen  years  of 
age  the  prince  received  the  homage  of  the  Welsh  barons  at  Chester.  The 
town  of  Caernarvon,  notwithstanding  its  famous  history  and  the  possession  of 


40  /•:.\'(,7.,/.\7),  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  greatest  ruin  in  Wales,  now  derives  its  chief  satisfaction  from  the  lucrative 
but  prosaic  occupation  of  trading  in  slates. 


(  ONWAY    CASTI.K,    FROM    THK    ROAD    TO    LLANRWST. 


At  the  northern  extremity  of  Caernarvon  county,  and  projecting  into  the 
Irish  Sea,  is  the  promontory  known  as  Great  Orme's  Head,  and  near  it  is  the 
mouth  of  the  Conway  River.  The  railway  to  Holyhead  crosses  this  river  on  a 
tubular  bridge  four  hundred  feet  long,  and  runs  almost  under  the  ruins  of  Con- 
way  Castle,  another  Welsh  stronghold  erected  by  Edward  I.  We  are  told  that 
this  despotic  king,  when  he  had  completed  the  conquest  of  \Vales,  came  to 
Conway,  the  shape  of  the  town  being  something  like  a  Welsh  harp,  and  he 
ordered  all  the  native  bards  to  be  put  to  death.  Gray  founded  upon  this  his 
ode,  "The  Bard,"  beginning— 

"  On  a  rock  whose  lofty  brow 

Frowns  o'er  old  Conway's  foaming  flood, 
Robed  in  a  sable  garb  of  woe, 

With  haggard  eyes  the  poet  stood." 


CAEK.VARl'OX  .-L\J>    CO.Ylf.l  }'. 


This  ode  has  so  impressed  die  Con  way  folk  that  they  have  been  at  great  pains 
to  discover  the  exact  spot  where  the  despairing  bard  plunged  into"  the  river, 
and  several  enthusiastic  persons  have  discovered  the  actual  site.     The  castle 
stands  upon  a  high  rock,  and  its  builder  soon  after  its  completion  was  besieged 
there  by  the  Welsh,  but  before  being  starved  into  submission  was  relieved&by 
the  timely  arrival  of  a  Beet  with  provisions.     It  was  in  the  hall  of  Conway  Cas- 
tle that  Richard  II.  signed  his  abdication.     The  castle  was  stormed  and' taken 
by  Cromwell's  troops  in  the  Civil  Wars,  and  we  are  told  that  all  the  Irish  found 
in  the  garrison  were  tied  in  couples,  back  to  back,  and  thrown  into  the  river. 
The  castle  was  not  dismantled,  but  the  townsfolk  in  their  industrious  quarrying 
of  slates  have  undermined  one  of  the  towers,  which,  though  kept  up  by  the 
solidity  of  the  surrounding  masonry,  is  known  as  the  "  Broken  Tower."    There 
was  none  of  the  "  bonus  building  "  of  modern  times  attempted  in  these  pon- 
derous Welsh  castles  of  the  great  King  Edward.     The  ruins  are  an  oblong 
square,  standing  on   the  edge  of  a  steep  rock  washed  on   two  sides  by  the 
river;   the  embattled   walls,  partly  covered  by  ivy,  are   twelve  to  fifteen  feet 
thick,  and  are  flanked  by  eight  huge  circular  towers,  each  forty  feet  in  diam- 
eter;  the  interior  is  in  partial  ruin,  but  shows  traces  of  its  former  magnificence; 
the  stately  hall  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long.    The  same  architect  design- 
ed both  Caernarvon  and  Conway.     A  fine  suspension-bridge  now  crosses  the 
river  opposite  the  castle,  its  towers  being  built  in  harmony  with  the  architecture 
of  the  place,  so  that  the  structure  looks  much  like  a  drawbridge  for  the  fort- 
ress.     Although  the    Conway   River 
was  anciently  a  celebrated  pearl-fish- 
ery, slate-making,  as  at  Caernarvon, 
is  now  the  chief  industry  of  the  town. 
There    are    many    other    historic 
places  in  Caernarvonshire,  and  also 
splendid  bits  of  rural  and  coast  sce- 
nery,  while   the  attractions   for    the 
angler  as  well  as  the  artist  are  almost 
limitless.    One  of  the  prettiest  places 
for  sketching,  as  well  as  a  spot  where 
the  fisherman's  skill  is  often  reward- 
ed, is  Bettws-y-Coed.      This   pretty 
village,  which  derives  its  name  from 
a    religious    establishment  —  "  Bede- 
house  in  the  Wood  "  —that  was  for- 
merly there,  but  long  ago  disappear- 


FAl.I.s    up    THE    CONWAY. 


ENGLAND,  PKTURESQUE  AND   DESCRll'TirE. 


ed,  is  a  favorite  re-sort  for  explorations  of  the  ravines  leading  clown  from  Mount 
Snowdon,  which  towers  among  the  clouds  to  the  southward.  Not  far  away  are 
the  attractive  Falls  of  the  Conway,  and  from  a  rock  above  them  is  a  good  view 
of  the  wonderful  ravine  of  Fors  Noddyn,  through  which  the  river  flows.  Around 
it  there  is  a  noble  assemblage  of  hills  and  headlands.  Here,  joining  with  the 


THE   SWALLOW    FALLS. 


Conway.  comes  through  another  ravine  the  pretty  Machno  in  a  succession  o/ 
sparkling  cascades  and  rapids.  Not  far  away  is  the  wild  and  lovely  valley  of 
the  Lledr,  another  tributary  of  the  Conway,  which  comes  tumbling  dqwn  a 
romantic  fissure;  cut  into  the  frowning  sides  of  the  mountain.  At  Dolwyddelan 


.i.\/)  CONWAY. 


43 


a  solitary  tower  is  all  that  remains  of  the  castle,  once  commanding  from  its 
bold  perch  on  the  rocks  the  narrow  pass  in  the  valley.  It  is  at  present  a  little 
village  of  slate-quarriers.  The  Llugwy  is  yet  another  attractive  tributary  of 
the  Conway,  which  boasts  in  its  course  the  Rhayadr-y-Wenol,  or  the  Swallow 
Fall.  This,  after  a  spell  of  rainy  weather,  is  considered  the  finest  cataract  in 
Wales  for  the  breadth  and  volume  of  the  water  that  descends,  though  not  for 
its  height.  This  entire  region  is  full  of  charming  scenery,  and  of  possibly  what 


some  may  love  even  better,  good  trout-fishing.  Following 
the  Conway  Valley  still  farther  up,  and  crossing  over  the 
border  into  Denbigh,  we  come  to  the  little  market-town  of 
Llanrwst.  It  contains  two  attractive  churches,  the  older 
one  containing  many  curious  monuments  and  some  good 
carvings,  the  latter  having  been  brought  from  Macnant 
Abbey.  But  the  chief  curiosity  of  this  little  Welsh  settlement  is  the  bridge 
crossing  the  Conway.  It  \vas  constructed  by  Inigo  Jones,  and  is  a  three-arched 
stone  bridge,  which  has  the  strange  peculiarity  that  by  pushing  a  particular 
'  portion  of  the  parapet  it  can  be  made  to  vibrate  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
Gwydyr  House,  the  seat  of  Lord  Willoughby  cle  Eresby,  is  in  the  neighborhood, 
a  small  part  of  the  original  mansion  built  in  1555  remaining.  Near  Trefriw 
lived  Talicsin,  the  father  of  Welsh  poetry,  and  a  monument  erected  by  that 
nobleman  on  the  river-bank  perpetuates  his  memory. 

The  recollection  among  the  Welsh  of   the  life  and    exploits    of  the  great 
chieftain  of  former  times,  Madoc,  is  held  very  dear  in  Caernarvonshire,  and   is 


44 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


preserved  not  only  in  many  legends,  but  also  in  the  thriving  and  pleasant  little 
seaport  known  as  Port  Madoc,  which  has  grown  up  out  of  the  slate-trade.  Its 
wharf  is  a  wilderness  of  slates,  and  much  of  the  land  in  the  neighborhood  has 
been  recovered  from  the  sea.  The  geology  as  well  as  the  scenery  here  is  an 
interesting  study.  In  fact,  the  whole  Caernarvon  coast,  which  stretches  away 
to  the  south-west  in  the  long  peninsula  that  forms  Cardigan  Bay,  is  full  of  pleas 
ant  and  attractive  locations  for  student  and  tourist,  and  entwined  around  all  are 
weird  legends  of  the  heroes  and  doings  of  the  mystical  days  of  the  dim  past, 
when  Briton  and  Roman  contended  for  the  mastery  of  this  historic  region. 

THE     COAST    OF    MERIONETH. 

Let  us  make  a  brief  excursion  south  of  Mount  Snowdon,  along  the  coast  of 
the  pastoral  county  of  Merioneth,  where  Nature  has  put  many  crags  and  stones 


BARMOUTH. 


and  a  little  gold  and  wheat,  but  where  the  people's  best  reliance  is  their  flocks. 
At  the  place  where  the  Mawddach  joins  the  sea  is  Barmouth,  where  a  fishing- 
village  has  of  late  years  bloomed  into  a  fashionable  watering-place.  .  The 
houses  are  built  on  a  strip  of  sand  and  the  precipitous  hillside  beyond,  and 


THE    COAST  OF  UERIOXETH. 


45 


the  cottages  are  perched  wherever  they  can  conveniently  hold  on  to  the  crags, 
the  devious  pathways  and  flights  of  steps  leading  up  to  them  presenting  a 
quaint  aspect.  The  bends  of  the  Mawddach,  as  it  goes  inland  among  the  hills, 
present  miles  of  unique  scenery,  the  great  walls  of  Cader  Idris  closing  the 
background.  Several  hilltops  in  the  neighborhood  contain  fortifications,  and 
are  marked  by  the  old  tombs  known  as  cromlechs  and  Druids'  altars.  On 
the  sea-coast  curious  reefs  project,  the  chief  of  them  being  St.  Patrick's  Cause- 
way. The  legend  tells  us  that  a  Welsh  chieftain  fifteen  hundred  years  ago  con- 
structed these  reefs  to  protect  the  lowlands  from  the  incursions  of  the  sea,  and 


HAKMOUTH    ESTUARY. 


on  the  lands  thus  reclaimed  there  stood  no  less  than  twelve  fortified  Welsh 
cities.  But,  unfortunately,  one  stormy  night  the  guardian  of  the  embankments 
got  drunk,  and,  slumbering  at  the  critical  moment,  the  waves  rushed  in,  sweep- 
ing all  before  them.  In  the  morning,  where  had  before  been  fortified  cities 
and  a  vast  population,  there  was  only  a  waste  of  waters.  St.  Patrick,  we  are 
told,  used  his  causeway  to  bear  him  dryshod  as  far  as  possible  when  he  walked 
the  waters  to  Ireland. 

Let  us  penetrate  into  the  interior  by  going  up  the  romantic  valley  of  the 
Mawddach  and  viewing  the  frowning  sides  of  the  chief  Merioneth  mountain, 
Cader  Idris,  which  towers  on  the  right  hand  to  the  height  of  3100  feet.  It  is 
a  long  ridge  rather  than  a  peak,  and  steep  precipices  guard  the  upper  portion. 
Two  little  lakes  near  the  summit,  enclosed  by  cliffs,  afford  magnificent  scenery. 
Here  is  "  Idris's  Chair,"  where  the  grim  magician,  who  used  to  make  the  moun- 


46 


F.\<;LA\P.  PICTURESQUE  A\D  DI-:SCRII'TI\-E. 


tain  his  home,  sat  to  perform  his  incantations,  whilst  in  a  hollow  at  the  summit 
he  had  his  couch.  According-  to  Welsh  tradition,  whoever  passed  the  night 
there  would  emerge  in  the  morning  either  mad  or  a  poet.  This  mountain,  like 

Snowdon,  is  said  to 
have  been  former- 
ly a  volcano,  and  le- 
gends tell  of  the  fiery 
outbursts  that  came 
from  its  craters,  now 
occupied  by  the  two 
little  lakes.  But  the 
truth  of  these  le- 
gends, though  inter- 
woven into  Welsh 
poetry,  is  denied  by 
prosaic  geologists.  A 
rough  and  steep  track, 
known  as  the  "Fox's 
Path,"  leads  to  the 
summit,  and  there  is 
a  fine  view  northward  across  the  valleys  to  the  distant  summits  of  Snowdon 
and  its  attendant  peaks,  while  spread  at  our  feet 
to  the  westward  is  the  broad  expanse  of  Cardi- 
gan Bay.  Lakes  abound  in  the  lowlands,  and, 
pursuing  the  road  up  the  Mawddach  we  pass 
the  "  Pool  of  the  Three  Pebbles."  Once  upon 
a  time  three  stones  got  into  the  shoe  of  the  giant 
Idris  as  he  was  walking  about  his  domain,  and  he 
stopped  here  and  threw  them  out.  Here  they 
still  remain — three  ponderous  boulders — in  the 
lake. 

We  leave  the  Mawddach  and  follow  its  tribu- 
tary, the  little  river  Wnion,  as  it  ripples  along 
over  its  pebbly  bed  guarded  by  strips  of  meadow. 
Soon  we  come  to  the  lovely  "Village  of  the 
Hazels,"  Dolgelly,  standing  in  the  narrow  val- 
ley, and  probably  the  prettiest  spot  in  Wales. 
Steep  hills  rise  on  either  hand,  with  bare  craggy 
summits  and  the  lower  slopes  richly  wooded.  Deep  dells  running  into  the 


CADER    IDKIS,    ON    THE    TALY-SI.YN    ASCENT. 


RHAYADR-Y-MAWDDACH. 


THE   COAST  or  MERIONETH. 


47 


hills  vary  the  scenery,  and  thus  the  town  is  set- in  an  amphitheatre  of  hills,  up 
whose  flanks  the  houses  seem  to  climb.  There  is  a  little  old  church,  and  in  a 
back  court  the  ruins  of  the  "Parliament  House,"  where  Owen  Glendower  assem- 
bled the  Welsh  Parliament  in  1404.  The  Torrent  Walk,  where  the  stream 
from  the  mountain  is  spanned  by  picturesque  bridges,  is  a  favorite  resort  of 


DOLGELLY. 


?. 


the  artist,  and  also  one  of  the  most  charming  bits  of  scenery  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  this  beautiful  town.  Pursuing  the  valley  farther  up  and  crossing  the 
watershed,  we  come  to  the  largest  in- 
land water  of  Wales,  the  beautiful  Bala 
Lake,  heretofore  referred  to  in  describ- 
ing the  river  Use,  which  drains  it.  It 
is  at  an  elevation  of  six  hundred  feet, 
surrounded  by  mountain-peaks,  and 
the  possibility  of  making  it  available 
as  a  water-supply  for  London  has  been 
considered. 

There  is  an  attractive  place  on  the 
Merioneth  coast  to  the  southward  of 
Barmouth,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhei- 
clol,  and  near  the  estuary  of  the  river  Dovey.  A  ruined  tower  on  a  low 
eminence  guards  the  harbor,  where  now  is  a  fashionable  watering-place, 
and  is  almost  all  that  remains  of  the  once  powerful  Abervstwith  Castle, 
another  stronghold  of  King  Edward  I.  Portions  of  the  entrance-gate  and 


OWEN    GLENDOWER  S    PARLIAMENT    HOUSE. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A\n    DESCKf/'T/TE. 


barbican    can    be   traced,  while   the   modern   houses   of  the   town   are   spread 
to   the   northward   along  the    semicircular    bay.      The   University   College   of 


THE    LOWER    I'.RIDGE,    TORRENT    WALK,    DOLGELLV. 


Wales    is    located    here,   and    the   town    is   popularly  known    as    the  "Welsh 
Brighton,"  while  among  its  antiquities  in    the   suburbs  is    the    ruined    castel- 


BALA    LAKE. 


lated  mansion  of  Plas  Crug,  said  to  have  been  Glendower's  home.  On  the 
northern  part  of  the  Merioneth  coast  is  the  entrance  to  the  pleasant  vale 
of  Pfestiniog,  another  attractive  spot  to  tourists.  Tan-y-bwlch  and  Maentwrog 


T//K   COAST  <>/•    J/A'A' A '.YA/7/. 


49 


are  romantic  villages  adjoining  each  other  in  this  pretty  valley  full  of  water- 
falls, among  these  being  the  renowned  Black  Cataract  and  the  Raven  Fall. 

About  twelve  miles  north  of 
Barmouth  the  picturesque  Har- 
lech  Castle  stands  on  a  promon- 
tory guarding  the  entrance  to 
the  Traeth.  The  cliff  is  pre- 
cipitous, with  just  enough  level 
surface  on  the  top  to  accommo- 
date the  castle.  The  place  is  a 
quadrangle,  with  massive  round 
towers  at  the  corners  connected 
by  lofty  curtain-walls.  Circular 
towers,  protected  by  a  barbican, 
guard  the  entrance  on  the  land 
side.  Deep  ditches  cut  in  the 
rock  surround  the  castle  where 
that  defence  is  necessary.  From 
this  fortress  on  the  Rock  of  Har- 
lech  the  view  is  magnificen.t.  This 
crag  is  said  to  have  supported  a 
castle  as  early  as  the  third  cen- 
tury, when  Lady  Bronwen  built 
it,  and,  being  of  most  sensitive 
honor,  died  afterwards  of  grief 
because  her  husband  had  struck 
her.  Unhappily,  she  was  in 
advance  of  her  age  in  her  de- 
monstration of  woman's  rights. 
Another  castle  replaced  the  first 
one  in  the  sixth  century,  and  some  of  its  ruins  were  worked  into  the  pres- 
ent castle,  which  is  another  achievement  of  the  great  Welsh  fortress-builder, 
Edward  I.  It  has  stood  several  sieges.  Owen  Glendower  held  it  five  years 
against  the  English.  When  Edward  IV.  became  king,  Harlech  still  held  out 
for  the  Lancastrian  party,  the  redoubtable  Welshman,  David  ap  Ifon,  being  the 
governor.  Summoned  to  surrender,  the  brave  David  replied,  "I  held  a  town 
in  France  till  all  the  old  women  in  Wales  heard  of  it,  and  now  I  will  hold  a 
castle  in  Wales  till  all  the  old  women  in  France  hear  of  it."  But  David  was 
starved  into  surrender,  and  then  Edward  IV.  tried  to  break  the  terms  of  capit- 


ABERYSTWITH. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


ulation  made  by  Sir  Richard  Pembroke,  the  besieger,.     Sir  Richard,  more  gen- 
erous, told  the  king,  "Then,  by  Heaven,  I  will  let  David  and  his  garrison  into 

Harlech  again.ancl  Your 
Highness  may  fetch  him 
out  by  any  who  can,  and 
if  you  demand  my  life 
for  his,  take  it."  The 
song  of  "The  March 
of  the  Men  of  Har- 
lech "  is  a  memorial  of 
this  siege.  Harlech  was 
the  last  Welsh  fortress 
during  the  Civil  Wars 
that  held  out  for  Charles 
I.,  and  since  then  it  has 
been  gradually  falling  to 
decay. 

We  have  now  con- 
ducted the  tourist  to 
the  chief  objects  in 
North  Wales.  The  rail- 
way runs  on  to  Holy- 
head,  built  on  the  ex- 
treme point  of  Holy  Island  on  the  western  verge  of  Anglesea,  where  there  is  a 
fine  harbor  of  refuge,  lighthouses,  and  an  excellent  port.  Here  comes  the 
"Wild  Irishman,"  as  the  fast  train  is  called  that  runs  between  London  and 
Ireland,  and  its  passengers  are  quickly  transferred  to  the  swift  steamers  that 
cross  the  Channel  to  Dublin  harbor.  Lighthouses  dot  the  cliffs  on  the  coast, 
and  at  this  romantic  outpost  we  will  close  the  survey  of  North  Wales. 

"  There  ever-dimpling  Ocean's  cheek 
Reflects  the  tints  of  many  a  peak, 
Caught  by  the  laughing  tides  that  lave 
Those   Eclens  of  the  Western  wave." 


II. 


LIVERPOOL,  NORTHWARD  TO  THE  SCOTTISH  BORDER. 

Lancashire — Warrington — Manchester — Fiirncss  Abbey — The  Kibble — Stony  hurst — Lancaster  Castle — Isle 
nl  Man — Castletown—  Rusheii  Castle— Peele  Castle — The  Lake  Country — \\indermere — Lodore  Fall — 
1  (crwenlwater — Ki-uirk  (Ireta  Hall — Southey,  Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge-  Skiddaw — The  Border 
Castles — Kenclal  C.istle — Brougham  Hall — The  Solw.iy  -Carli?le  Castle— Scaleby  Castle — Naworth  — 

Lord  \Villi.ini   Howard. 

LANCASHIRE. 

THE  great  manufacturing  county  of  England  for  cotton  and  woollen  spin- 
ning and  weaving  is  Lancashire.  Liverpool  is  the  seaport  for  the  vast 
aggregation  of  manufacturers  who  own  the  huge  mills  ot  Manchester,  Sal- 
ford,  Warrington,  YVigan,  Oldham,  Rochdale,  Bolton,  Blackburn,  Preston,  and 
a  score  of  other  towns,  whose  operatives  work  into  yarns  and  fabrics  the  mil- 
lions of  bales  of  cot- 
ton and  wool  that 
come  into  the  Mersey. 
The  warehouse  and 
factory,  with  the  spin- 
ners' cottages  and  the 
manufacturers'  villas, 
make  up  these  towns, 
almost  all  of  modern 
growth,  and  the  busy 
machinery  and  smok- 
ing chimneys  leave 
little  chance  for  ro- 
mance in  Southern 
Lancashire.  It  was  in 
this  section  that  trade 


m 

first  compelled  the  use 
of    modern    improve- 
ments: here  were  used  the  earliest  steam-engines;  here  labored  Arkwright  to 
perfect  the  spinning  machinery,  and  Stephenson  to  build  railways.     To  meet 


(ILL)    MAKKF.T,    \VAKKINCTON. 


51 


52  ENGLAND,  PICTi'RESOUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  necessities  of  communication  between  Liverpool  and  Manchester,  the  first 
canal  was  dug  in  England,  and  this  was  followed  afterwards  by  the  first  experi- 
mental railway;  the  canal  was  constructed  by  Brindley,  and  was  called  the 
"  Grand  Trunk  Canal,"  being  twenty-eight  miles  long  from  Manchester  to  the 
Mersey  River,  at  Runcorn  above  Liverpool,  and  was  opened  in  1/67.  The 
railway  was  opened  in  1830;  the  odd  little  engine,  the  "  Rocket,"  then  drew 
an  excursion-train  over  it,  and  the  opening  was  marred  by  an  accident  which 
killed  Joseph  Huskisson,  one  of  the  members  of  Parliament  for  Liverpool. 
Let  us  follow  this  railway,  which  now  carries  an  enormous  traffic  out  of  Liver- 
pool, eastward  along  the  valley  of  the  Mersey  past  Warrington,  with  its  quaint 
old  timbered  market-house,  and  then  up  its  tributary,  the  Irwell,  thirty-one 
miles  to  Manchester. 

MANCHESTER. 

The  chief  manufacturing  city  of  England  has  not  a  striking  effect  upon  the 
visitor  as  he  approaches  it.  It  is  scattered  over  a  broad  surface  upon  a  gently 
undulating  plain,  and  its  suburbs  straggle  out  into  the  country  villages,  which 
it  is  steadily  absorbing  in  its  rapid  growth ;  the  Irwell  passes  in  a  winding 
course  through  the  city,  receiving  a  couple  of  tributaries ;  this  river  divides 
Manchester  from  Salford,  but  a  dozen  bridges  unite  them.  No  city  in  England 
has  had  such  rapid  growth  as  Manchester  in  this  century;  it  has  increased  from 
about  seventy  thousand  people  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  to  over  half  a 
million  now;  and  this  is  all  the  effect  of  the  development  of  manufacturing 
industry.  Yet  Manchester  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  England,  for  there 
was  a  Roman  camp  at  Mancunium,  as  the  Caesars  called  it,  in  the  first  century 
of  the  Christian  era  ;  and  we  are  also  told  that  in  the  days  when  giants  lived 
in  England  it  was  the  scene  of  a  terrific  combat  between  Sir  Launcelot  of  the 
Lake  and  the  giant  Tarquin.  A  ballad  tells  the  story,  but  it  is  easier  read  in 
prose :  Sir  Launcelot  was  travelling  near  Manchester  when  he  heard  that  this 
giant  held  in  durance  vile  a  number  of  knights — "  threescore  and  four"  in  all ; 
a  damsel  conducts  him  to  the  giant's  castle-gate,  "  near  Manchester,  fair  town," 
where  a  copper  basin  hung  to  do  duty  as  a  bell ;  he  strikes  it  so  hard  as  to 
break  it,  when  out  comes  the  giant  ready  for  the  fray ;  a  terrific  combat  ensues, 
and  the  giant,  finding  that  he  has  met  his  match,  offers  to  release  the  captives, 
provided  his  adversary  is  not  a  certain  knight  that  slew  his  brother.  Unfor- 
tunately, it  happens  that  Sir  Launcelot  is  the  very  same,  and  the  combat  is 
renewed  with  such  vigor  that  the  giant  is  slain,  "  to  the  great  contentment  of 
many  persons." 

The  ancient  Mancunium  was  a  little  camp  and  city  of  about  twelve  acres, 


.MANCHESTER. 


53 


partly  bounded  by  a  tributary  of  the  Irwell  known  as  the  Medlock.  A  ditch 
on  the  land-side  was  still  visible  in  the  last  century,  and  considerable  portions 
of  the  old  Roman  walls  also  remained  within  two  hundred  years.  Many 
Roman  relics  have  been  discovered  in  the  city,  and  at  Knott  Mill,  the  site  of 
the  giant  Tarquin's  castle,  a  fragment  of  the  Roman  wall  is  said  to  be  still 
visible.  The  town  in  the  early  Tudor  days  had  a  college,  and  then  a  cathe- 
dral, and  it  was  besieged  in  the  Civil  Wars,  though  it  steadily  grew,  and  in 
Charles  II. 's  time  it  was  described  as  a  busy  and  opulent  place;  but  it  had 
barely  six  thousand  people.  Cotton-spinning  had  then  begun,  the  cotton  com- 
ing from  Cyprus  and  Smyrna.  In  i  700  life  in  Manchester,  as  described  in  a 
local  guide-book,  was  noted  by  close  application  to  business ;  the  manufac- 
turers were  in  their  warehouses  by  six  in  the  morning,  breakfasted  at  seven  on 
bowls  of  porridge  and  milk,  into  which  masters  and  apprentices  dipped  their 
spoons  indiscriminately,  and  dined  at  twelve  ;  the  ladies  went  out  visiting  at 
two  in  the  afternoon,  and  attended  church  at  four.  Manchester  was  conserva- 
tive in  the  Jacobite  rebellion,  and  raised  a  regiment  for  the  Pretender,  but  the 
royalist  forces  defeated  it,  captured  the  officers,  and  beheaded  them.  Man- 
chester politics  then  were  just  the  opposite  of  its  present  Liberal  tendencies, 
and  it  was  Byrom,  a  Manchester  man,  who  wrote  the  quaint  epigram  regarding 
the  Pretender  and  his  friends  which  has  been  so  often  quoted : 

"God  bless  the  King — I   mean  our  faith's  defender! 
God  bless  (no  harm  in  blessing)  the  Pretender!         • 
But  who  Pretender  is,  or  who  is  King- 
God  bless  us  all !—  that's  quite  another  thing." 

It  was  the  rapid  growth  of  manufacturing  industry  in  Manchester  that 
changed  its  politics,  and  it  • 
was  here  that  was  first  con- 
spicuously advocated  the 
free-trade  agitation  in  Eng- 
land which  triumphed  in 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Laws,  so  as  to  admit  food 
free  of  duty  for  the  opera- 
tives, and  in  the  Reform  bill 
that  changed  the  represen- 
tation in  Parliament.  That 
fine  building,  the  "  Free- 
Trade  Hall,"  is  a  monu- 
ment of  this  agitation  in  MANCHESTER  CATHEDRAL.  FROM  THE  SOUTH-EAST. 


54 


E\<;LA,\/\  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


which  Manchester  took  such  prominent  part.  As  the  city  has  grown  in  wealth, 
so  has  its  architectural  appearance  improved;  its  school-  and  college-buildings 
are  very  fine,  particularly  Owens  College,  munificently  endowed  by  a  leading 
merchant.  The  Manchester  Cathedral  is  an  ancient  building  overlooking  the 
Irwell  which  has  had  to  be  renewed  in  so  many  parts  that  it  has  a  comparatively 
modern  aspect.  Other  English  cathedrals  are  more  imposing,  but  this,  "  the 
ould  paroch  church"  spoken  of  by  the  ancient  chroniclers,  is  highly  prized  by 
the  townsfolk ;  the  architecture  is  Perpendicular  and  of  many  dates.  Until 
recently  this  was  the  only  parish  church  in  Manchester,  and  consequently  all 
the  marriages  for  the  city  had  to  be  celebrated  there  ;  the  number  was  at  times 
very  large,  especially  at  Easter,  and  not  a  few  tales  are  told  of  how,  in  the  con- 


THE    ASSI/IC    COl'KTS,    .MANCM  KS  TICK. 


fusion,  the  wrong  pairs  were  joined  together,  ami  when  the  mistake  was  dis- 
covered respliced  with  little  ceremony.  It  was  in  this  Manchester  Cathedral 
that  one  rector  is  said  to  have  generally  begun  the  marriage  service  by  instruct- 
ing the  awaiting  crowd  to  "sort  yourselves  in  the  vestry." 

Some  of  the  public  buildings  in  Manchester  are  most  sumptuous.  The  Assize 
Courts  are  constructed  in  rich  style,  with  lofty  Pointed  roofs  and  a  tall  toweis 
and  make  one  of  the  finest  modern  buildings  in  England.  The  great  hall  is  a 
grand  apartment,  and  behind  the  courts  is  the  prison,  near  which  the  Fenians 
in  1867  made  the  celebrated  rescue  of  the  prisoners  from  the  van  for  which 
some  of  the  assailants  were  hanged  and  others  transported.  The  Roya'l  Ex- 
change is  a  massive  structure  in  the  Italian  style,  with  a  fine  portico,  dome,  and 


.\fA.\CNKSTER. 


55 


towers  ;  the  hall  within  is  said  to  be  probably  the  largest  room  in  England, 
having  a  width  of  ceiling,  without  supports,  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
Here  on  cotton-market  days  assemble  the  buyers  and  sellers  from  all  the 
towns  in  Lancashire,  and  they  do  an  enormous  traffic.  The  new  Town- Hall 
is  also  a  fine  building,  where  the  departments  of  the  city  government  are 
accommodated,  and  where  they  have  an  apartment  dear  to  every  Englishman's 


THE  ROYAI.  EXCHANGE,  MANCHESTER. 


heart — ••  a  kitchen  capable  of  preparing  a  banquet  for  eight  hundred  persons." 
The  warehouses  of  Manchester  are  famous  for  their  size  and  solidity,  and 
could  Arkwright  come  back  and  see  what  his  cotton-spinning  machinery  has 
produced,  he  would  be  amazed.  It  was  in  Manchester  that  the  famous  Dr. 
Dalton,  the  founder  of  the  atomic  theory  in  chemistry,  lived;  he  was  a  devout 
Quaker,  like  so  many  of  the  townspeople,  but  unfortunately  was  color-blind  ; 
he  appeared  on  one  occasion  in  a  scarlet  waistcoat,  and  when  taken  to  task 
declared  it  seemed  to  him  a  very  quiet,  unobtrusive  color,  just  like  his  own 
coat.  Several  fine  parks  grace  the  suburbs  of  Manchester,  and  King  Cotton 
has  made  this  thriving  community  the  second  city  in  England,  while  for  miles 
along  the  beautifully  shaded  roads  that  lead  into  the  suburbs  the  opulent  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  have  built  their  ornamental  villas. 


ENGLAND.   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


FURNESS    AND    STONYHURST 

The  irregularly-shaped  district  of  Lancashire  partly  cut  off  from  the  remain- 
der of  the  county  by  an  arm  of  the  Irish  Sea  is  known  as  Furness.  It  is  a 
wild  and  rugged  region,  best  known  from  the  famous  Furness  Abbey  and  its 
port  of  Barrow-in-Furness,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  examples  in  England 
of  quick  city  growth.  Forty  years  ago  this  was  an  insignificant  fishing  village  ; 
now  Barrow  has  magnificent  docks  and  a  fine  harbor  protected  by  the  natural 
breakwater  of  Walney  Island,  great  iron-foundries  and  the  largest  jute-manu- 
factory in  the  world ; 
while  it  has  recent- 
ly also  became  a  fa- 
vorite port  for  iron 
shipbuilding.  About 
two  miles  distant, 
and  in  a  romantic 
glen  called  the  Val- 
ley of  Deadly  Night- 
shade, not  far  from 
the  sea,  is  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of 
mediaeval  church- 
architecture  in  Eng- 
land, the  ruins  of 
Furness  Abbey, 
f o u  n  d e d  in  the 
twelfth  century  by 
King  Stephen  and 
Maud,  his  queen. 
It  was  a  splendid  ab- 
bey, standing  high 
in  rank  and  power, 

its  income  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  being  $90,000  a  year,  an  enormous  sum  for 
that  early  day.  The  ruins  are  in  fine  preservation,  and  effigies  of  Stephen  and 
Maud  are  on  each  side  of  the  great  east  window.  For  twelve  reigns  the  char- 
ters of  sovereigns  and  bulls  of  popes  confirmed  the  abbots  of  Furness  in  their 
extraordinary  powers,  which  extended  over  the  district  of  Furness,  while  the 
situation  of  the  abbey  made  them  military  chieftains,  and  they  erected  a  watch- 
tower  on  a  high  hill,  from  which  signals  alarmed  the  coast  on  the  approach  of  an 


FURNESS    AKHKY. 


/•Y /I'.VAXs'  ,l.\D    STOXYHl'RST.  57 


enemy.  The  church  is  three  hundred  and  four  feet  long,  and  from  the  centre 
rose  a  tower,  three  of  the  massive  supporting  pillars  of  which  remain,  but  the 
tower  has  fallen  and  lies  a  mass  of  rubbish ;  the  stained  glass  from  the  great 
east  window  having  been  removed  to  Bowness  Church,  in  \Vestmorelandshire. 
The  abbey  enclosure,  covering  eighty-five  acres,  was  surrounded  by  a  wall,  the 
ruins  of  which  are  now  covered  with  thick  foliage.  This  renowned  abbey  was 
surrendered  and  dismantled  in  Henry  VIII. 's  reign  ;  the  present  hotel  near  the 
ruins  was  formerly  the  abbot's  residence. 

The  river  Ribble,  which  Hows  into  the  Irish  Sea  through  a  wide  estuary, 
drains  the  western  slopes  of  the  Pennine  Hills,  which  divide  Lancashire  from 
\  orkshire.  Up  in  the  north-western  portion  of  Lancashire,  near  the  bases 
of  these  hills,  is  a  moist  region  known  as  the  parish  of  Mitton,  where,  as  the 
poet  tells  us, 

"  The  Hodder,  the  Calder,  Ribble,  and  rain 
All  meet  together  in  Mitton  domain." 

In  Mitton  parish,  amid  the  woods  along  the  Hodder  and  on  the  north  side  of 
the  valley  of  the  Ribble,  stands  the  splendid  domed  towers  of  the  baronial 
edifice  of  Stonyhurst,  now  the  famous  Jesuit  College  of  England,  where  the 
sons  of  the  Catholic  nobility  and  gentry  are  educated.  The  present  building 
is  about  three  hundred  years  old,  and  quaint  gardens  adjoin  it,  while  quite  an 
extensive  park  surrounds  the  college.  Not  far  away  are  Clytheroe  Castle  and 
the  beautiful  ruins  of  Whalley  Abbey.  The  Stonyhurst  gardens  are  said  to 
remain  substantially  as  their  designer,  Sir  Nicholas  Sherburne,  left  them.  A 
capacious  water-basin  is  located  in  the  centre,  with  the  leaden  statue  of  Regulus 
in  chains  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  water.  Summer-houses  with  tall  pointed 
roofs  are  at  each  lower  extremity  of  the  garden,  while  an  observatory  is  upon  a 
commanding  elevation.  Tall  screens  of  clipped  yews,  cut  square  ten  feet  high  and 
five  feet  thick,  divide  the  beds  upon  one  side  of  the  gardens,  so  that  as  you  walk 
among  them  you  are  enveloped  in  a  green  yet  pleasant  solitude.  Arched  door- 
ways are  cut  through  the  yews,  and  in  one  place,  descending  by  broad  and  easy 
steps,  there  is  a  solemn,  cool,  and  twilight  walk  formed  by  the  overarching  yews, 
the  very  place  for  religious  meditation.  Then,  reascending,  this  sombre  walk 
opens  into  air  and  sunshine  amid  delicious  flower-gardens.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  gardens  are  walls  hung  with  fruit,  and  plantations  of  kitchen  vege- 
tables. This  charming  place  was  fixed  upon  by  the  Jesuits  for  their  college  in 
1794,  when  driven  from  Liege  by  the  proscriptions  of  the  French  Revolution. 
The  old  building  and  the  additions  then  erected  enclose  a  large  quadrangular 
court.  In  the  front  of  the  college,  at  the  southern  angle,  is  a  fine  little  Gothic 


A\n  DESCRIPTIVE. 


church,  built  fifty  years  ago.  The  college  refectory  is  a  splendid  baronial  hall. 
In  the  Mitton  village-church  near  by  are  the  tombs  of  the  Sherburne  family, 
the  most  singular  monument  being  that  to  Sir  Richard  and  his  lady,  which  the 
villagers  point  out  as  "  old  Fiddle  o'  God  and  his  wife  "•  —Fiddle  o'  God  being 
his  customary  exclamation  when  angry,  which  tradition  says  was  not  seldom. 
The  figures  are  kneeling — he  in  ruff  and  jerkin,  she  in  black  gown  and  hood, 
with  tan-leather  gloves  extending  up  her  arms.  These  figures,  being  highly 
colored,  as  was  the  fashion  in  the  olden  time,  have  a  ludicrous  appearance.  We 
are  told  that  when  these  monuments  came  from  London  they  were  the  talk  of 
the  whole  country  round.  A  stonemason  bragged  that  he  could  cut  out  as 
good  a  figure  in  common  stone.  Taken  at  his  word,  he  was  put  to  the  test, 
and  carved  the  effigy  of  a  knight  in  freestone  which  so  pleased  the  Sherburne 
family  that  they  gave  him  one  hundred  dollars  for  it,  and  it  is  now  set  in  the 
wall  outside  the  church,  near  the  monuments. 

LANCASTER    CASTLE. 

John  of  Gaunt,  "time-honored  Lancaster,"  was  granted  the  Duchy  of  Lan- 
caster by  his  father,  King  Edward  III.,  but  the  place  which  stands  upon  the 
river  Lune  is  of  much  greater  antiquity. 
It  was  a  Roman  camp,  and  hence  its 
name.  The  Picts  destroyed  it  when  the 
Romans  left ;  the  Saxons  afterwards 
restored  it,  and  ultimately  it  gave  the 
name  to  the  county.  King  John  gave 
the  town  a  charter,  and  John  of  Gaunt 
rebuilt  the  fortress,  which  became  in- 
dissolubly  connected  with  the  fortunes 
of  the  House  of  Lancaster.  Though 
sometimes  besieged,  it  was  maintained 
more  for  purposes  of  state  than  of  war, 
and  two  centuries  ago  it  still  existed  in 
all  its  ancient  splendor,  commanding  the 
city  and  the  sea.  Lancaster  stands  on 
the  slope  of  an  eminence  rising  from 
the  river  Lune,  and  the  castle-towers 
crown  the  summit,  the  fortress  beingf 

0  CASTI.K    SQUAKK,    LANCASTER. 

spacious,  with  a  large    courtyard    and 

variously-shaped  towers.    The  keep  is  square,  enormously  strong,  and  defended 

by  two  semi-octagonal  towers.    This  keep  is  known  as  "John  of  Gaunt's  Chair," 


ISLE   OF  MAX. 


59 


RRADDA    HI. A  I). 


its  coasts  are  irregular,  its  shores 
of  mountains  traverses  the  entire 
island,  the  highest  peak  being 
Snaefell,  rising  2024  feet,  with 
North  Barrule  at  one  extremity 
and  Cronk-ny-Jay  Llaa,  or  "  The 
Hill  of  the  Rising  Day,"  at  the 
other.  Man  is  a  miniature  king- 
dom, with  its  reproduction,  some- 
times in  dwarf,  of  everything  that 
other  kingdoms  have.  It  has  four 

o 

little  rivers,  the  Neb,  Colby,  Black 
and  Gray  Waters,  with  little  gems 
of  cascades ;  has  its  own  dialect, 
the  Manx,  and  a  parliament  in 
miniature,  known  as  the  Council, 
or  Upper  House,  and  the  House 


and  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  surround- 
ing country  and  far  away  across  the  sea  to 
the  distant  outlines  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  This 
famous  castle,  partly  modernized,  is  now 
used  for  the  county  jail  and  courts,  the 
prison-chapel  being  in  the  keep.  In  the 
town  several  large  manufactories  attest 
the  presiding  genius  of  Lancashire,  and 
the  inn  is  the  comfortable  and  old-fash- 
ioned King's  Arms  described  by  Dickens. 

ISLE    OF    MAX. 

Let  us  go  off  from  the  Lancashire  coast 
to  that  strange  island  which  lies  in  the  sea 
midway  between  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  and  whose  bold  shores  are  visible 
from  "John  of  Gaunt's  Chair."  It  stretches 
for  thirty-three  miles  from  its  northern  ex- 
tremity at  the  point  of  Ayre  to  the  bold  de- 
tached cliffs  of  the  little  islet  at  the  southern 
end  known  as  the  Calf  of  Man.  Covering  two 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  square  miles  area, 
in  several  places  precipitous,  and  a  range 


KIRK     HK.UMU  N. 


6o 


A'.V<//.,LYA  PICTURESQUE  AND    1>1-.SCR 'IPTIVE. 


(HF.NASS    WATKKI-'AIJ.. 


of  Keys.  It  is  a  healthful  resort, 
for  all  the  winds  that  blow  come 
from  the  sea,  and  its  sea-views 
are  striking,  the  rugged  masses  of 
Bradda  Head,  the  mellow-coloring 
of  the  Calf,  and  the  broad  expanse 
of  waters,  dotted  by  scores  of  fish- 
ing-boats, making  many  scenes  of 
artistic  merit.  While  the  want  of 
trees  makes  the  land-views  harsh 
and  cold,  yet  the  glens  and  coves 
opening  into  the  sea  are  the 
charms  of  Manx  scenery,  the  high 
fuchsia-hedges  surrounding  many 
of  the  cottages- giving  bright  col- 
oring to  the  landscape  when  the 
flowers  are  in  bloom.-  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful place  when  once  the  tourist  is 
able  to  land  there,  but  the  wharf 
arrangements  are  not  so  good  as 
they  might  be.  Once  landed,  the 
visitor  usually  first  proceeds  to 
solve  the  great  zoological  prob- 
lem the  island  has  long  presented 
to  the  outer  world,  and  finds  that 
the  Isle  of  Man  does  really  pos- 
sess a  breed  of  tailless  cats,  whose 
caudal  extremity  is  either  altogether 
wanting  or  at  most  is  reduced  to  a 
merely  rudimental  substitute. 


CASTLK    RUSHEN. 

Landing  at  the  capital,  Castletown,  it  is  found  that  it  gets  its  name  from  the 
ancient  castle  of  Rushen,  around  which  the  town  is  built.  Guttred  the  Dane 
is  said  to  have  built  this  castle  nine  hundred  years  ago,  and  to  be  buried  beneath 
it,  although  Cardinal  Wolsey  constructed  the  surrounding  stone  glacis.  The 
keep — into  which  the  prisoners  had  to  be  lowered  by  ropes — and  several  parts 
ot  the  interior  buildings  remain  almost  entire,  but  repeated  sieges  so  wr.ecked 
the  other  portions  that  they  have  had  to  be  restored.  At  the  castle-entrance 


CASTLE 


61 


.•  ^-'\\- 


were  stone  chairs  for  the  governor  and  judges.  It  was  here  that  the  eminent 
men  who  have  ruled  the  Isle  of  Man  presided,  among  them  being  Regulus, 
who  was  King  of  Man,  and  the  famous  Percy,  who  was  attainted  of  high 
treason  in  1405.  Afterwards  it  was  ruled  by  the  Earls  of  Derby,  who  relin- 
quished the  title  of  king  and  took  that  of  Lord  of  Man,  holding  their  sover- 
eignty until  they  sold  it  and  the  castles  and  patronage  of  the  island  to 

the    Crown    in    1764    for 
S3  50,000.  With  such  a  his- 
tory it  is  natural  that  Cas- 
tle Rushen  should  have  a 
weird  interest  attached  to 
it,    and    the    an- 
cient chroniclers 
tell   of  a   myste- 
rious   apartment 
within        "  which 
has   never  been 
opened     in     the 
memory  of   man." 
Tradition  says  that  this 
famous   castle  was  first  in- 
:ed  by  fairies,  and  afterwards 
giants,  until  Merlin,  by  his  magic 


hab 


the 


CASTLE    RUSHES. 


power,  dislodged  most  of  the  giants  and 
bound  the  others  in  spells.  In  proof  of  this 
it  is  said  there  are  fine  apartments  underneath  the  ground,  to  explore  which 
several  venturesome  persons  have  gone  clown,  only  one  of  whom  ever  returned. 
To  save  the  lives  of  the  reckless  would-be  explorers,  therefore,  this  mysterious 
apartment,  which  gives  entrance  underground,  is  kept  shut.  The  one  who 
returned  is  described  as  an  "explorer  of  uncommon  courage,"  who  managed  to 
get  back  by  the  help  of  a  clue  of  packthread  which  he  took  with  him,  and  was 
thus  able  to  retrace  his  steps.  He  had  a  wondrous  tale  to  tell.  After  passing 
a  number  of  vaults,  and  through  a  long,  narrow  passage  which  descended  for 
more  than  a  mile,  he  saw  a  little  gleam  of  light,  and  gladly  sought  it  out.  The 
light  came  from  a  magnificent  house,  brilliantly  illuminated.  Having. "well  for- 
tified himself  with  brandy  before  beginning  the  exploration,"  he  courageously 
knocked  at  the  door,  and  at  the  third  knock  a  servant  appeared,  demanding 
what  was  wanted.  He  asked  for  directions  how  to  proceed  farther,  as  the 
house  seemed  to  block  the  passage.  The  servant,  after  some  parley,  led  him 


62  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A\/> 


through  the  house  and  out  at  the  back  door.  He  walked  a  long  distance,  and 
then  beheld  another  house,  more  magnificent  than  the  first,  where,  the  windows 
being  open,  he  saw  innumerable  lamps  burning  in  all  the  rooms.  He  was  about 
to  knock,  but  first  had  the  curiosity  to  peep  through  a  window  into  the  parlor. 
There  was  a  large  black  marble  table  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  on  it  lay 
at  full  length  a  giant  who,  the  explorer  says,  was  "at  least  fourteen  feet  long 
and  ten  feet  round  the  body."  The  giant  lay  with  his  head  pillowed  on  a  book, 
as  if  asleep,  and  there  was  a  prodigious  sword  alongside  him,  proportioned  to 
the  hand  that  was  to  use  it.  This  sight  was  so  terrifying  that  the  explorer 
made  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  the  first  house,  where  the  servant  told  him 
that  if  he  had  knocked  at  the  giant's  door  he  would  have  had  company  enough, 
but  would  have  never  returned.  He  desired  to  know  what  place  it  was,  but 
was  told,  "These  things  are  not  to  be  revealed."  Then  he  made  his  way 
back  to  daylight  by  the  aid  of  the  clue  of  packthread  as  quickly  as  possible,  and 
we  are  told  that  no  one  has  ventured  down  there  since.  This  is  but  one  of  the 
many  tales  of  mystery  surrounding  the  venerable  Rushen  Castle. 

PEELE    CASTLE. 

The  Isle  of  Man  derives  its  name  from  the  ancient  British  word  moil,  which 
means  "isolated."  Around  this  singular  place  there  are  many  rocky  islets, 
also  isolated,  and  upon  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  these,  where  art  and 
Nature  have  vied  in  adding  strength  to  beauty,  is  built  the  castle  of  Peele,  off 
the  western  coast,  overlooking  the  distant  shores  of  Ireland.  This  castle  is 
perched  upon  a  huge  rock,  rising  for  a  great  height  out  of  the  sea,  and  com- 
pletely inaccessible,  except  by  the  approach  which  has  been  constructed  on  the 
side  towards  the  Isle  of  Man,  where  the  little  town  of  Peele  is  located.  After 
crossing  the  arm  of  the  sea  separating  the  castle  from  the  town,  the  visitor, 
landing  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  ascends  about  sixty  steps,  cut  out  of  it,  to  the 
first  wall,  which  is  massive  and  high,  and  built  of  the  old  red  sandstone  in 
which  the  island  abounds ;  the  gates  in  this  wall  are  of  wood,  curiously  arched 
and  carved,  and  four  little  watch-towers  on  the  wall  overlook  the  sea.  Having 
entered,  he  mounts  by  another  shorter  stairway  cut  out  of  the  rock  to  the  sec- 
ond wall,  built  like  the  other,  and  both  of  them  full  of  portholes  for  cannon. 
Passing  through  yet  a  third  wall,  there  is  found  a  broad  plain  upon  the  top  of 
the  rock,  where  stands  the  castle,  surrounded  by  four  churches,  three  almost 
entirely  ruined ;  the  other  church  (St.  Germain's)  is  kept  in  some  repair 
because  it  has  within  the  bishop's  chapel,  while  beneath  is  a  horrible  dungeon 
where  the  sea  runs  in  and  out  through  hollows  of  the  rock  with  a  continual 
roar;  a  steep  and  narrow  stairway  descends  to  the  dungeon  and  burial-vaults. 


J'KELE   CASTLE. 


and  within  arc  thirteen  pillars  supporting  the  chapel  above.  Beware,  if  going 
down,  of  failing  to  count  the  pillars,  for  we  are  told  that  he  who  neglects  this 
is  sure  to  do  something  that  will  occasion  his  confinement  in  this  dreadful 
dungeon.  This  famous  castle  of  Peele  even  in  its  partly-ruined  state  has 
several  noble  apartments,  and  here  were  located  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing scenes  of  Scott's  novel  of  Pcveril  of  the  Peak.  It  was  in  former  days  a 
state-prison,  and  in  it  were  at  one  time  confined  Warwick  the  King-maker,  and 
also  Gloucester's  haughty  wife,  Eleanor ;  her  discontented  spectre  was  said  to 


PEELE   CASTLE. 


haunt  the  battlements  in  former  years,  and  stand  motionless  beside  one  of  the 
watch-towers,  only  disappearing  when  the  cock  crew  or  church-bell  tolled; 
another  apparition,  a  shaggy  spaniel  known  as  the  Manthe  Doog,  also  haunted 
the  castle,  particularly  the  guard-chamber,  where  the  dog  came  and  lay  down 
at  candlelight ;  the  soldiers  lost  much  of  their  terror  by  the  frequency  of  the 
sight,  but  none  of  them  liked  to  be  left  alone  with  him,  though  he  did  not 
molest  them.  The  dog  came  out  by  a  passage  through  the  church  where  the 
soldiers  had  to  go  to  deliver  the  keys  to  their  captain,  and  for  moral  support 
they  never  went  that  way  alone.  One  of  the  soldiers,  we  are  told,  on  a  certain 


64 


!•:.  \Gl.A.\l). 


'K  A\/>    DESCRIPTU'E. 


night,  "being  much  disguised  in  liquor"  (for  spirits  of  various  kinds  appear  in 
the  Isle  of  Man,  as  most  other  places),  insisted  upon  going  with  the  keys  alone, 
and  could  not  be  dissuaded  ;  he  said  he  was  determined  to  discover  whether 
the  apparition  was  dog  or  devil,  and,  snatching  the  keys,  departed  ;  soon  there 
was  a  great  noise,  but  none  ventured  to  ascertain  the  cause.  When  the  soldier 
returned  he  was  speechless  and  horror-stricken,  nor  would  he  ever  by  word  or 
sign  tell  what  had  happened  to  him,  but  soon  died  in  agony  ;  then  the  passage 
was  walled  up,  and  the  Manthe  Doog  was  never  more  seen  at  Castle  Peele. 

THK     LARK    COUNTRY. 

North  of  Lancashire,  in  the  counties  of  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland,  is 
the  famous  "  Lake  Country"  of  England.  It  does  not  cover  a  large  area  —  in 
fact,  a  good  pedestrian  can  walk  from  one  extremity  of  the  region  to  the  other 
in  a  day  —  but  its  compact  beauties  have  a  charm  of  rugged  outline  and  luxu- 

riant   detail     that    in    a    condensed 
form  reproduce  the  Alpine  lakes 
of  Northern   Italy.      Derwent- 
^    water  is  conceded  to  be  the 
finest    of    these     English 
lakes,  but  there  is  also 
great    beauty   in    Win- 
dermere  and  Ulleswa- 
ter,     Buttermere     and 
Wastwater.    The  Der- 
went  runs  like  a  thread 
th  rough  the  glassy  bead 
of     Derwentwater,     a 
magnificent    oval     lake 
set  among  the  hills,  about 
three  miles  long  and  half 
that  breadth,  alongside  which 
•",»/  /.?"     rises  the  frowning  Mount  Skid- 


^5m 

— sse^ _•_'  -,  jw-  - ..',  ••;:  .- 

daw   with   its   pair  of  rounded 

heads.  In  entering  the  Lake  Re- 
gion from  the  Lancashire  side 
we  first  come  to  the  pretty  Windermere  Lake,  the  largest  of  these  inland 
sheets  of  water,  about  ten  miles  long  and  one  mile  broad  in  the  widest  part. 
From  Orrest  Head,  near  the  village  of  Windermere,  there  is  a  magnificent 
view  of  the  lake  from  end  to  end,  though  tourists  prefer  usually  to  go  to  the 


A    fU.IMI'SE    OF    I3KRWI.M  WATER,   FROM    HCAFKI  I.. 


THE  LAKE   COUNTRY. 


village  of  Bowness  on  the  bank,  where  steamers  start  at  frequent  intervals  and 
make  the  circuit  of  the  pretty  lake.  From  Bowness  the  route  is  by  Rydal 
Mount,  where  the  poet  Wordsworth  lived,  to  Keswick,  about  twenty-three 
miles  distant,  on  Derwentwater. 

The  attractive  Derwent  flows  down  through  the  Borrowdale  Valley  past 
Seathwaite,  where  for  many  a  year  there  has  been  worked  a  famous  mine  of 
plumbago:  we  use  it  for  lead-pencils,  but  our  English  ancestors,  while  making 
it  valuable  for  marking  their  sheep,  prized  it  still  more  highly  as  a  remedy  for 
colic  and  other  human  ills.  There  are  several  pencil-mills  in  the  village,  which, 
in  addition  to  other  claims  for  fame,  is  noted  as  one  of  the  rainiest  spots  in 
England,  the  annual  rainfall  at  Seathwaite  sometimes  reaching  one  hundred 
anJ  eighty-two  inches.  The  Derwent  flows  on  through  a  gorge  past  the  iso- 
lated pyramidal  rock  known  as  Casde  Crag,  and  the  famous  Bowder  Stone, 
which  has  fallen  into  the  gorge  from  the  crags  above,  to  the  hamlet  of  Grange, 
where  a  picturesque  bridge  spans  the  little  river.  \Ve  are  told  that  the  inhab- 
itants once  built  a  wall  across  the 
narrowest  part  of  this  valley :  hav- 
ing long  noticed  the  coincident  ap- 
pearance of  spring  and  the  cuckoo, 
they  rashly  concluded  that  the  latter 
was  the  cause  of  the  former,  and 
that  if  they  could  only  retain  the 
bird  their  pleasant  valley  would  en- 
joy perpetual  spring  ;  they  built  the 
wall  as  spring  lengthened  into  sum- 
mer, and  with  the  autumn  came  the 
crisis.  The  wall  had  risen  to  a  con- 
siderable height  when  the  cuckoo 
with  the  approach  of  colder  weather 
was  sounding  its  somewhat  asth- 
matic notes  as  it  moved  from  tree 
to  tree  down  the  valley ;  it  neared 
the  wall,  and  as  the  population  held 
their  breath  it  suddenly  flew  over, 
and  carried  the  spring  away  with  it 
down  the  Derwent.  Judge  of  the 
popular  disgust  when  the  sages  of 
that  region  complainingly  remarked  that,  having  crossed  but  a  few  inches  above 
the  topmost  stones  of  the  wall,  if  the  builders  had  only  carried  it  a  course  or 


FALLS    OF    LODOKE. 


66  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


two  higher  the  cuckoo  might  Lave  been  kept  at  home,  and  their  valley  thus 
have  enjoyed  a  perennial  spring. 

The  Derwent  flows  on  along  it.;  gorge,  which  has  been  slowly  ground  out  by 
a  glacier  in  past  ages,  and  enters  the  lake  through  the  marshy,  flat,  reedy  delta 
that  rather  detracts  from  the  appearance  of  its  upper  end.  Not  far  away  a 
small  waterfall  comes  tumbling  over  the  crags  among  the  foliage ;  this  minia- 
ture Niagara  has  a  fame  almost  as  great  as  the  mighty  cataract  of  the  New 
World,  for  it  is  the  "  Fall  of  Lodore,"  about  which,  in  answer  to  his  little  boy's 
question,  "  How  does  the  water  come  down  at  Lodore  ?"  Southey  wrote  his 
well-known  poem  that  is  such  a  triumph  of  versification,  and  from  which  this 
is  a  quotation  : 

"Flying  and  flinging,   writhing  and  wringing, 
Eddying  and  whisking,  spouting  and  frisking, 

Turning  and  twisting 

Around   and  around,  with  endless  rebound, 
Smiting  and  fighting,  a  sight  to  delight  in, 

Confounding,  astounding, 

Dizzying  and  deafening  the  ear  \vith  its  sound; 
All  at  once,  and  all  o'er,  with  mighty  uproar — 
And  this  way  the  water  comes  down  at  Lodore." 

Thus  we  reach  the  border  of  Derwentwater,  nestling  beneath  the  fells  and 
crags,  as  its  miniature  surrounding  mountains  are  called.  Little  wooded  islets 
dimple  the  surface  of  the  lake,  in  the  centre  being  the  largest,  St.  Herbert's 
Island,  where  once  that  saint  lived  in  a  solitary  cell :  he  was  the  bosom  friend 
of  St.  Cuthbert,  the  missionary  of  Northumberland,  and  made  an  annual  pil- 
grimage over  the  Pennine  Hills  to  visit  him  ;  loving  each  other  in  life,  in  death 
they  were  not  divided,  for  Wordsworth  tells  us  that 

"  These  holy  men  both   died  in  the  same  hour." 

Another  islet  is  known  as  Lord's  Island,  where  now  the  rooks  are  in  full  pos- 
session, but  where  once  was  the  home  of  the  ill-fated  Earl  of  Derwentwater, 
who  was  beheaded  in  1716  for  espousing  the  Pretender's  cause.  It  is  related 
that  before  his  execution  on  Tower  Hill  he  closely  viewed  the  block,  and  find- 
ing a  rough  place  which  might  offend  his  neck,  he  bade  the  headsman  chip  it  oft ; 
this  done,  he  cheerfully  placed  his  head  upon  it,  gave  the  sign,  and  died ;  his 
estates  were  forfeited  and  settled  by  the  king  on  Greenwich  Hospital,  Castle 
Hill  rises  boldly  on  the  shore  above  Derwent  Isle,  where  there  is  a  pretty  resi- 
dence, and  every  few  years  there  is  added  to  the  other  islets  on  the  bosom  of 
the  lake  the  "  Floating  Island,"  a  mass  of  vegetable  matter  that  becomes 
detached  from  the  marsh  at  the  upper  end.  At  Friar's  Crag,  beneath  Castle 


THE  BORDER    CASTLES.  67 


Hill,  the  lake  begins  to  narrow,  and  at  Portinscale  the  Derwent  flows  out, 
receives  the  waters  of  the  Greta  coming  from  Keswick,  and,  after  flowing  a 
short  distance  through  the  meadow-land,  expands  again  into  Bassenthwaite 
Lake,  a  region  of  somewhat  tamer  yet  still  beautiful  scenery. 

The  town  of  Keswick  stands  some  distance  back  from  the  border  of  Der- 
wentwater,  and  is  noted  as  having  been  the  residence  of  Southey.  In  Greta 
Hall,  an  unpretentious  house  in  the  town,  Southey  lived  for  forty  years,  dying 
there  in  1843.  He  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  parish  church  of  Crosthwaite,  just 
outside  the  town.  At  the  pretty  little  church  there  is  a  marble  altar-tomb,  the 
inscription  on  which  to  Southey's  memory  was  written  by  Wordsworth.  Greta 
Hall  was  also  for  three  years  the  home  of  Coleridge,  the  two  families  dwelling 
under  the  same  roof.  Behind  the  modest  house  rises  Skiddaw,  the  bare  crags 
of  the  rounded  summits  being  elevated  over  three  thousand  feet,  and  beyond  it 
the  hills  and  moors  of  the  Skiddaw  Forest  stretch  northward  to  the  Solway, 
with  the  Scruffel  Hill  beyond.  Upon  a  slope  of  the  mountain,  not  far  from 
Keswick,  is  a  Druids'  circle,  whose  builders  scores  of  centuries  ago  watched 
the  mists  on  Skiddaw's  summit,  as  the  people  there  do  now,  to  foretell  a  change 
of  weather  as  the  clouds  might  rise  or  fall,  for  they  tell  us  that 

"  If  Skiddaw  hath  a  cap, 
Scruffel  wots  full  well  of  that." 


THE    BORDER    CASTLKS. 

At  Kendal,  in  Westmorelandshire,  are  the  ruins  of  Kendal  Castle,  a  relic  of 
the  Norman  days,  but  long  since  gone  to  decay.  Here  lived  the  ancestors 
of  King  Henry  VIII. 's  last  wife,  Queen  Catharine  Parr.  Opposite  it  are  the 
ruins  of  Castle  How,  and  not  far  away  the  quaint  appendage  known  as  Castle 
Dairy,  replete  with  heraldic  carvings.  It  was  in  the  town  of  Kendal  that  was 
made  the  foresters'  woollen  cloth  known  as  "  Kendal  green,"  which  was  the 
uniform  of  Robin  Hood's  band. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  on  the  military  road  to  Carlisle,  are  the 
ruins  of  Brougham  Castle,  built  six  hundred  years  ago.  It  was  here  that  the 
Earl  of  Cumberland  magnificently  entertained  King  James  I.  for  three  days 
on  one  of  his  journeys  out  of  Scotland.  It  is  famous  as  the  home  of  the  late 
Henry,  Lord  Brougham,  whose  ancestors  held  it  for  many  generations.  The 
manor-house,  known  as  Brougham  Hall,  has  such  richness,  variety,  and  extent 
of  prospect  from  its  terraces  that  it  is  called  the  "  Windsor  of  the  North." 
Lord  Brougham  was  much  attached  to  his  magnificent  home,  and  it  was  here 
in  1860  that  he  finished  his  comprehensive  work  on  the  British  Constitution, 


68 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPl^IVE. 


and  wrote  its  famous  dedication  to  the  queen,  beginning  with  the  memorable 
words,  "  Madame,  I  presume  to  lay  at  Your  Majesty's  feet  a  work  the  -result 
of  many  years'  diligent  study,  much  calm  reflection,  and  a  long  life's  experience." 
In  close  proximity  to  the  castle  is  the  Roman  station  Brocavum,  founded  by 
Agricola  in  A.  D.  79.  Its  outline  is  clearly  defined,  the  camp  within  the  inner 
ditch  measuring  almost  one  thousand  feet  square.  Various  Roman  roads  lead 
from  it,  and  much  of  the  materials  of  the  outworks  were  built  into  the  original 
Brougham  Castle. 

The  Solway  and  its  firth  divide  England  from  Scotland,  and  this  border- 
land has  been  the  scene  of  many  deadly  feuds,  though  happily  only  in  the  days 
long  agone.  The  castle  of  Carlisle  was  a  noted  border  stronghold,  built  of 
red  sandstone  by  King  William  Rufus,  who  rebuilt  Carlisle,  which  had  then 

lain  in  ruins  two  hun- 
dred years  because  of 
the  forays  of  the  Danes. 
Richard  III.  enlarged  the 
castle,  and  Henry  VIII. 
built  the  citadel.  Here 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
was  once  lodged,  but  in 
Elizabeth's  time  the  castle 
fell  into  decay.  In  the 
town  is  a  fine  cathedral, 
which  has  been  thorough- 
ly restored.  In  a  flat  sit- 
uation north  of  Carlisle 
are  the  ruins  of  Scaleby 
Castle,  once  a  fortress 
of  great  strength,  but 
almost  battered  to  pieces 
when  it  resisted  Crom- 
well's forces.  There  are  several  acres  enclosed  within  the  moat,  intended  for 
the  cattle  when  driven  in  to  escape  the  forays  that  came  over  the  border.  This 
venerable  castle  is  now  a  picturesque  ruin.  Twelve  miles  north-east  of  Car- 
lisle is  Naworth  Castle,  near  where  the  Roman  Wall  crossed  England.  This  is 
one  of  the  finest  feudal  remains  in  Cumberland,  having  been  the  stronghold 
of  the  Wardens  of  the  Marches,  who  guarded  the  border  from  Scottish  incur- 
sions. It  stands  amid  fine  scenery,  and  just  to  the  southward  is  the  Roman 
Wall,  of  which  many  remains  are  still  traced,  while  upon  the  high  moorland  in 


ROAD   THROUGH    CATHEDRAL   CLOSF 


THE   110RDER    CASTLES.  69 


the  neighborhood  is  the  paved  Roman  Road,  twelve  feet  wide  and  laid  with 
stone.  At  Naworth  there  was  always  a  strong  garrison,  for  the  border  was 
rarely  at  peace,  and 

"  Stern  on  the  angry  confines  Naworth  rose, 
In  dark  woods  islanded  ;  its  towers  looked  forth 
And  frowned  defiance  on  the  angry  North." 

Here  lived,  with  a  host  of  retainers,  the  famous  "belted  Will  "  —Lord  "Wil- 
liam Howard,  son  of  the  fourth  Duke  of  Norfolk — who  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century  finally  brought  peace  to  the  border  by  his  judicious  exer- 
cise for  many  years  of  the  Warden's  powers.  It  is  of  this  famous  soldier  and 
chivalrous  knight,  whose  praises  are  even  yet  sung  in  the  borderland,  that 
Scott  has  written — 

"  Howard,  than  whom  knight 
Was  never  dubbed  more  bold  in  fight, 
Nor,  when  from  war  and  armor  free, 
Mere  famed  for  stately  courtesy." 


ifth 

; 


VIEW  ON  TORRENT  WALK,  DOLGELLY. 


III. 

LIVERPOOL,  THROUGH  THE  MIDLAND  COUNTIES,  TO  LONDON. 

The  Peak  of  Derbyshire — Castleton — Bess  of  Hardwicke — Hardwicke  Hall — Bolsovcr  Castle — The  Wye  and 
the  Derwent — Buxton — Bakewell — Haddon  Hall — The  King  of  the  Peak — Dorothy  Vernon — Rowsley 
—The  Peacock  Inn — Chatsworth — The  Victoria  Regia — Matlock — Dovedale — Beauchief  Abbey — Staf- 
ford Castle — Trentham  Hall — Tamworth — Tutbury  Castle — Chartley  Castle — Alton  Towers — Shrews- 
bury Castle — Bridgenorth — Wenlock  Abbey  —  Ludlow  Castle — The  Feathers  Inn — Lichfield  Cathedral 
— Dr.  Samuel  Johnson — Coventry — Lady  Godiva  and  Peeping  Tom — Belvoir  Castle — Charnwood 
Forest — Groby  and  Bradgatj — Elizabeth  Widvile  and  Lady  Jane  Grey — Ulverscroft  Priory — Grace 
Dieu  Abbey — Ashby  de  la  Zouche — Langlcy  Priory — Leicester  Abbey  and  Castle — Bosworth  Field — 
Edgehill — Nascby — The  Land  of  Shakespeare — Stratford-on- A  von —Warwick — Kenil  worth — Birming- 
ham— Boulton  and  Watt — Fotheringhay  Castle — Holmby  House — Bedford  Castle — John  Bunyan — 
Woburn  Abbey  and  the  Russells— Stowe — Whaddon  Hall — Great  Hampden — Creslow  House. 

THE    PEAK    OF  DERBYSHIRE. 

THE  river  Mersey  takes  its  sources — for  it  is  formed  by  the  union  of  several 
smaller  streams — in  the  ranges  of  high  limestone  hills  east  of  Liverpool, 
in  North  Derbyshire.  These  hills  are  an  extension  of  the  Pennine  range  that 
makes  the  backbone  of  England,  and  in  Derbyshire  they  rise  to  a  height  of  nearly 
two  thousand  feet,  giving  most  picturesque  scenery.  The  broad  top  of  the  range 
at  its  highest  part  is  called  the  Kinderscout,  or,  more  familiarly,  "  The  Peak." 
The  mountain-top  is  a  vast  moor,  abounding  in  deep  holes  and  water-pools, 
uninhabited  excepting  by  the  stray  sportsman  or  tourist,  and  dangerous  and 
difficult  to  cross.  Yet,  once  mounted  to  the  top,  there  are  good  views  of  the 
wild  scenery  of  the  Derbyshire  hills,  with  the  villages  nestling  in  the  glens, 
and  of  the  "  Kinder  Fall,"  where  much  of  the  water  from  the  summit  pours 
down  a  cataract  of  some  five  hundred  feet  height,  while  not  far  away  is  the 
"  Mermaid's  Pool,"  where,  if  you  go  at  the  midnight  hour  that  ushers  in  Easter 
Sunday,  and  look  steadily  into  the  water,  you  will  see  a  mermaid.  The  man 
who  ventures  upon  that  treacherous  bogland  by  night  certainly  deserves  to  see 
the  best  mermaid  the  Peak  can  produce.  This  limestone  region  is  a  famous 
place.  In  the  sheltered  valley  to  the  westward  of  the  Kinderscout  is  the  village 
of  Castleton,  almost  covered  in  by  high  hills  on  all  sides.  It  was  here  upon  a 

70 


BESS   (>/•'  IfARDU'ICKE. 


bold  cliff  to  the  southward  of  the  village  that  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak"  built  his 
renowned  castle  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  of  which  only  the  ruins 
of  the  keep  and  part 
of  the  outer  walls 
remain.  Almost  in- 
accessible, it  possess- 
ed the  extraordinary 
powers  of  defence 
that  were  necessary 
in  those  troublous 
times,  and  here  its 
founder  gave  a  grand 
tournament,  to  which 
young  knights  came 
from  far  and  near,  the 
successful  knight  of 
Lorraine  being  re- 
warded by  his  daugh- 
ter's hand.  In  the 
time  of  Edward  III. 
this  "  Castle  of  the 
Peak"  reverted  to  the 
Crown,  but  now  it  is 
held  by  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire.  Under  the  hill  on  which  the  ruins  stand  is  the  "  Cavern  of  the 
Peak,"  with  a  fine  entrance  in  a  gloomy  recess  formed  by  a  chasm,  in  the  rocks. 
This  entrance  makes  a  Gothic  arch  over  one  thousand  feet  wide,  above  which 
the  rock  towers  nearly  three  hundred  feet,  and  it  is  chequered  with  colored 
stones.  Within  is  a  vast  flat-roofed  cavern,  at  the  farther  side  being  a  lake 
over  which  the  visitors  are  ferried  in  a  boat.  Other  caverns  are  within,  the 
entire  cave  extending  nearly  a  half  mile,  a  little  river  traversing  its  full  length. 
There  are  more  ami  similar  caverns  in  the  neighborhood. 

BESS    OF    HARDYv'ICKK. 

One  of  the  great  characters  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  Elizabeth,  Countess 
of  Shrewsbury,  familiarly  known  as  "  Bess  of  Hardwicke,"  where  she  was  born, 
and  who  managed  to  outlive  four  husbands,  thus  showing  what  success  is  in 
store  for  a  woman  of  tact  and  business  talent.  She  was  a  penniless  bride  at 
fourteen,  when  she  married  an  opulent  gentleman  of  Derbyshire  named  Barley, 


PEVERIL    CASTLE,    CASTLETON. 


/•:. \Cf.A.\7\  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


who  left  her  at  fifteen  a  wealthy  widow.  At  the  age  of  thirty  she  married 
another  rich  husband,  Sir  William  Cavendish,  the  ancestor  of  the  Dukes  of 
Devonshire,  who  died  in  1557,  leaving  her  again  a  widow,  but  with  large 
estates,  for  she  had  taken  good  care  to  look  after  the  proper  marriage  settle- 
ments; and  in  fact,  even  in  those  early  days,  a  pretty  good  fortune  was  neces- 


sary to  provide  for  the  family  of  eight  children  Sir 
William  left  her.  She  next  married  Sir  William 
Loe,  who  also  had  large  estates  and  was  the  cap- 
tain of  the  king's  guard,  the  lady's  business  tact  procuring  in  advance  of  the 
wedding  the  settlement  of  these  estates  upon  herself  and  her  children — a  hard 
condition,  with  which,  the  historian  tells  us,  "  the  gallant  captain,  who  had  a 
family  by  a  former  marriage,  felt  himself  constrained  to  comply  or  forego  his 
bride."  But  in  time  the  captain  died,  and  his  estates  all  went  to  the  thrifty  lady, 
to  the  exclusion  of  his  own  family;  and  to  the  blooming  widow,  thus  made  for  the 
third  time,  there  came  a-courting  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury;  the  earl  had  numerous 
offspring,  and  therefore  could  hardly  give  Bess  all  his  possessions,  like  her  other 
husbands,  but  she  was  clever  enough  to  obtain  her  object  in  another  way.  As 
a  condition  precedent  to  accepting  the  earl,  she  made  him  marry  two  of  his 
children  to  two  of  hers,  and  after  seeing  these  two  weddings  solemnized,  the 


OF  HARDWICKE. 


73 


earl  led  her  to  the  altar  for  the  fourth  time  at  the  age  of  fifty ;  and  we  are  told 
that  all  four  of  these  weddings  were  actual  "love-matches."  But  she  did  not 
get  on  well  with  the  earl,  whose  correspondence  shows  she  was  a  little  shrew- 
ish, though  in  most  quarrels  she  managed  to  come  off  ahead,  having  by  that  time 
acquired  experience.  When  the  earl  died  in  1590,  and  Bess  concluded  not  again 
to  attempt  matrimony,  she  was  immensely  rich  and  was  seized  with  a  mania  for 
building,  which  has  left  to  the  present  day  three  memorable  houses :  Hardwicke 
Hall,  where  she  lived,  Bolsover  Castle,  and  the  palace  of  Chatsworth,  which  she 
began,  and  on  which  she  lavished  the  enormous  sum,  for  that  day,  of  $400,000. 
The  legend  runs  that  she  was  told  that  so  long  as  she  kept  building  her  life 
would  be  spared — an  architect's  ruse  possibly  ;  and  when  finally  she  died  it 
was  during  a  period  of  hard  frost,  when  the  masons  could  not  work. 

Hardwicke  Hall,  near  Mansfield,  which  the  renowned  Bess  has  left  as  one  of 
her  monuments,  is  about  three  hundred  years  old,  and  approached  by  a  noble 
avenue  through  a  spacious  park  ;  it  is  still  among  the  possessions  of  the  Cav- 
endish family  and  in  the  Duke  of  Dev- 
onshire's estates.  The  old  hall  where 
Bess  was  born  almost  touches  the  new 
one  that  she  built,  and  which  bears  the 
initials  of  the  proud  and  determined 
woman  in  many  places  outside  and  in. 
It  was  here  that  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
held  in  captivity  part  of  the  time 


was 


EI.J/AHETHAX    STAIRCASE,    HARDWICKE    HALL. 


that  she  was  placed  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  the  custody  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury, 
and  her  statue  stands  in  the  hall.  There 
is  an  extensive  picture-gallery  contain- 
ing many  historical  portraits,  and  also 
fine  state-apartments.  The  mansion  is 
a  lofty  oblong  stone  structure,  with  tall 
square  towers  at  each  corner,  the  architecture  being  one  of  the  best  specimens 
of  the  Elizabethan  Period ;  on  the  side,  as  viewed  from  the  park,  the  hall  seems 
all  windows,  which  accounts  for  the  saying  of  that  neighborhood : 

"  Hardwickc   Hall,  more  glass  than  wall." 

The  ruins  of  the  old  hall,  almost  overgrown  with  ivy,  are  picturesque,  but  from 
everywhere  on  the  ancient  or  on  the  modern  hall  there  peer  out  the  initials 
"  E.  S.,"  with  which  the  prudent  Bess  was  so  careful  to  mark  all  her  posses- 


sions. 


10 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    l->ESCRIPTin:. 


BOLSOVER    CAST  LI-;. 

The  noted  Bolsover  Castle,  which  Bess  also  built,  though  her  son  finished  it 
after  her  death,  stands  in  a  magnificent  position  on  a  high  plateau  not  far  from 
Chesterfield,  overlooking  a  wide  expanse  of  Derbyshire.  The  present  castle 
replaced  an  ancient:  structure  that  had  fallen  into  ruin,  and  was  supposed  to 

have  been  built  by  "  Peveril  of 
the  Peak;"  it  was  fortified  dur- 
ing King  John's  time,  and  traces 
of  the  fortifications  still  remain  ; 
it  was  repeatedly  besieged  and 
taken  by  assault.  The  present 
building  is  a  square  and  lofty 
mansion  of  castellated  appear- 
ance, with  towers  at  the  corners 
built  of  brown  stone  ;  in  it  the 
Karl  of  Newcastle,  who  subse- 
quently inherited  it,  spent  on 
one  occasion  $75,000  in  enter- 
taining King  Charles  I.,  the  en  - 
tire  country  round  being  invited 
to  come  and  attend  the  king :  Ben 
Jonson  performed  a  play  for  his 
amusement.  Lord  Clarendon  speaks  of  the  occasion  as  "  such  an  excess  of  feast- 
ing as  had  scarce  ever  been  known  in  England  before."  It  now  belongs  to  the 
Duke  of  Portland,  and  has  fallen  into  partial  decay,  with  trees  growing  in  some  of 
the  deserted  apartments  and  ivy  creeping  along  the  walls.  Visitors  describe  it 
as  a  ghostly  house,  with  long  vaulted  passages,  subterranean  chambers,  dungeon- 
like  holes  in  the  towers,  and  mysterious  spaces  beneath  the  vaults  whence  come 
weird  noises.  When  Mr.  Jennings  visited  Bolsover  recently  he  described  it  as 
like  a  haunted  house,  and  after  examining  the  apartments,  in  which  most  things 
seemed  going  to  decay,  he  went  down  stairs,  guided  by  an  old  woman,  to  the 
cellars  and  passages  that  are  said  to  be  the  remains  of  the  original  Norman 
castle.  A  chamber  with  a  high  vaulted  roof  was  used  as  a  kitchen,  and  an 
ancient  stone  passage  connected  it  with  a  crypt ;  beneath  this,  she  told  him, 
there  was  a  church,  never  opened  since  the  days  of  Peveril.  Their  voices  had 
a  hollow  sound,  and  their  footsteps  awakened  echoes  as  if  from  a  large  empty 
space  beneath ;  the  servants,  she  said,  were  afraid  to  come  down  where  they 
were,  excepting  by  twos  and  threes,  and  she  added :  "  Many  people  have  seen 


BOLSOVER   CASTLE. 


THE    /CIV-;   AXD    THE   DKK  \rE.\T. 


75 


things  here  besides  me  ;  something  bad  has  been  done  here,  sir,  and  when  they 
open  that  church  below  they'll  find  it  out.  Just  where  you  stand  by  that  door 
I  have  several  times  seen  a  lady  and  gentleman — only  for  a  moment  or  two. 
for  they  come  like  a  Hash  ;  when  I  have  been  sitting  in  the  kitchen,  not  think- 
ing of  any  such  thing,  they  stood  there — the  gentleman  with  ruffles  on,  the 
lady  with  a  scarf  round  her  waist;  I  never  believed  in  ghosts,  but  I  have  seen 
them.  I  am  used  to  it  now,  and  don't  mind  it,  but  we  do  not  like  the  noises, 
because  they  disturb  us.  Not  long  ago  my  husband,  who  comes  here  at  night, 
and  I,  could  not  sleep  at  all,  and  we  thought  at  last  that  somebody  had  got  shut 
up  in  the  castle,  for  some  children  had  been  here  that  day;  so  we  lit  a  candle  and 
went  all  over  it,  but  there  was  nothing,  only  the  noises  following  us,  and  keep- 
ing on  worse  than  ever  after  we  left  the  rooms,  though  they  stopped  while  we 
were  in  them."  The  old  woman's  tale  shows  the  atmosphere  there  is  about 
this  sombre  and  ghostly  castle  of  Bolsover. 

THE    \VVK    AND    THE    DERWENT. 

These  two  noted  rivers  take  their  rise  in  the  Derbyshire  hills,  and,  coming 
together  at  Rowsley  near  the  pretty  Peacock  Inn,  flow  clown  to  the  sea  through 


THE    CRESCENT,    Hl'XTON. 


the  valleys  of  the  Wye,  the  Trent,  and  the  Humber.  Rising  in  the  limestone 
hills  to  the  north  of  Buxton,  the  Wye  flows  past  that  celebrated  bath,  where 
the  Romans  first  set  the  example  of  seeking  its  healing  waters,  both  hot  and 
cold  springs  gushing  from  the  rocks  in  close  proximity.  It  stands  nine  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea,  its  nucleus,  "The  Crescent,"  having  been  built  by  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire;  and  the  miraculous  cures  wrought  by  Sr.  Mary's  Well 
are  noted  by  Charles  Cotton  among  the  Wonders  of  I  lie  Peak.  From  Buxton 


76  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 

the  Wye  follows  a  romantic  glen  to  Bakewell,  the  winding  valley  being  availed 
of,  by  frequent  tunnels,  viaducts,  and  embankments,  as  a  route  for  the  Midland 
Railway.  In  this  romantic  glen  is  the  remarkable  limestone  crag  known  as 
Chee  Tor,  where  the  curving  valley  contracts  into  a  narrow  gorge.  The  gray 
limestone  cliffs  are  in  many  places  overgrown  with  ivy,  while  trees  find  root- 
ing-places  in  their  fissures.  Tributary  brooks  fall  into  the  Wye,  all  flowing 
through  miniature  dales  that  disclose  successive  beauties,  and  then  at  a  point 
where  the  limestone  hills  recede  from  the  river,  expanding  the  valley,  Bakewell 
is  reached.  Here  are  also  mineral  springs,  but  the  most  important  place  in 
the  town  is  the  parish  church,  parts  of  which  are  seven  hundred  years  old.  It  is 
a  picturesque  building,  cruciform,  with  a  spire,  and  is  rich  in  sepulchral  remains, 
containing  the  ancestors  of  the  Duke  of  Rutland — who  owns  the  town — in  the 
tombs  of  a  long  line  of  Vernons  and  Manners.  In  the  churchyard  are  several 

curious  epitaphs,  among  them  that  of  John  Dale  and  his  two  wives, 

the  inscription  concluding, 

"  A  period's  come  to  all  their  toylsome  lives ; 
The  good  man's  quiet — still  are  both  his  wives." 

is  churchyard  is  also  the  well-known  epitaph  often 
ed: 

"  Beneath  a  sleeping  infant  lies,  to  earth  whose  body  lent, 
More  glorious  shall  hereafter  rise,  tho'  not  more  innocent. 
When  the  archangel's  trump  shall  blow,  and  souls  to  bodies  join. 
Millions  will  wish  their  lives  below  had  been  as  short  as  thine." 

BAKEWELL   CHURCH. 

HADDON     HALL. 

Three  miles  below  Bakewell,  near  the  Wye,  is  one  of  the  most  famous  old 
mansions  of  England — Haddon  Hall.  This  ancient  baronial  home,  with  its 
series  of  houses,  its  courtyards,  towers,  embattled  walls,  and  gardens,  stands 
on  the  side  of  a  hill  sloping  down  to  the  Wye,  while  the  railway  has  pierced  a 
tunnel  through  the  hill  almost  underneath  the  structure.  The  buildings  sur- 
round two  courtyards  paved  with  large  stones,  and  cover  a  space  of  nearly 
three  hundred  feet  square.  Outside  the  arched  entrance-gate  to  the  first  court- 
yard is  a  low  thatched  cottage  used  as  a  porter's  lodge.  Haddon  is  maintained, 
not  as  a  residence,  but  to  give  as  perfect  an  idea  as  possible  of  a  baronial  hall 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  To  get  to  the  entrance  the  visitor  toils  up  a  rather  steep 
hill,  and  on  the  way  passes  two  remarkable  yew  trees,  cut  to  represent  the 
crests  of  the  two  families  whose  union  by  a  romantic  marriage  is  one  of  the 
traditions  of  this  famous  place.  One  yew  represents  the  peacock  of  Manners, 


HADDON  HALL, 


77 


the  present  ducal  house  of  Ruffand,  and  the  other  the  boar's  head  of  Yernon. 
Parts  oi  this  house,  like  so  many  structures  in  the  neighborhood,  were  built  in 
the  time  of  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak,"  and  its  great  hall  was  the  "  Martindale  Hall  " 
of  Scott's  novel,  thus  coming  down  to  us  through  eight  centuries,  and  nearly 
all  the  buildings  are  at  least  four  hundred  years  old. 

Entering  the  gateway,  the  porter's  guard-room  is  seen  on  the  right  hand, 
with  the  ancient  "  peephole  "  through  which  he  scanned  visitors  before  admit- 
ting them.  Mounting  the  steps  to  the  first  courtyard,  which  is  on  a  lower 
level  than  the  other,  the  chapel  and  the  hall  are  seen  on  either  hand,  while  in 
front  are  the  steps  leading  to  the  state-apartments.  The  buildings  are  not 
lofty,  but  there  are  second-floor  rooms  in  almost  all  parts,  which  were  occupied 
by  the.  household.  There  is  an  extensive  ball-room,  while  the  Eagle  Tower 


rises  at  one  corner  of  the  court.  Many  relics  of  the  olden  time  are  preserved 
in  these  apartments.  The  ancient  chapel  is  entered  by  an  arched  doorway  from 
the  court,  and  consists  of  a  nave,  chancel,  and  side  aisle,  with  an  antique 
Norman  font  and  a  large  high-back  pew  used  by  the  family.  After  passing 
the  court,  the  banquet-hall  is  entered,  thirty-five  by  twenty-five  feet,  and  rising 
to  the  full  height  of  the  building.  In  one  of  the  doorways  is  a  bracket  to 
which  an  iron  ring  is  attached,  which  was  used,  as  we  are  told,  "  to  enforce  the 
laws  of  conviviality."  When  a  guest  failed  to  drink  his  allowance  of  wine  he 
was  suspended  by  the  wrist  to  this  ring,  and  the  liquor  he  failed  to  pour  down 
his  throat  was  poured  into  his  sleeve.  A  tall  screen  at  the  end  of  the  room 
formed  the  front  of  a  gallery,  where  on  great  occasions  minstrels  discoursed 


/•:.\GLA\1),  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


sweet  music,  while  at  the  opposite  end  the  lord  and  his  honored  guests  sat  on 

a  raised  dais.  Here  still  stands  the  old 
table,  while  behind  the  dais  a  flight  of 
stairs  leads  up  to  the  state-apartments. 
Stags'  heads  and  antlers  of  great  age  are 
on  the  walls.  Another  door  opens  out  of 
the  banquet-hall  into  the  dining-room,  the 
end  of  which  is  entirely  taken  up  with  a 
fine  Gothic  window  displaying  the  Ver- 
non  arms  and  quarterings.  This  room  is 
elaborately  wainscoted.  The  royal  arms 
are  inscribed  over  the  fireplace,  and  below 
them  is  the  Vernon  motto  carved  in  Gothic 
letters : 

"  Drede  God  and  Honour  the  Kyng." 

An  exquisite  oriel  window  looks  out  from 
this  room  over  the  woods  and  grounds 
of  Haddon,  the  recess  bearino-  on  one 

o 

of  its  panels  the  head  of  Will  Somers, 
who  was  Henry  VIII. 's  jester.  The 
drawing-room,  which  is  over  the  dining-room,  is  hung  with  old  tapestry,  above 
which  is  a  frieze  of  ornamental  mouldings.  A  pretty  recessed  window  also 
gives  from  this  room  a  delightful  view  over  the  grounds. 

The  gem  of  Haddon  is  the  long  gallery  or  ball-room,  which  extends  over 
one  hundred  feet  along  one  side  of  the  inner  court :  the  semicircular  wooden 
steps  leading  to  this  apartment  are  said  to  have  been  cut  from  a  single  tree 
that  grew  in  the  park.  The  gallery  is  wainscoted  in  oak  in  semicircular  arched 
panels,  alternately  large  and  small,  surmounted  by  a  frieze  and  a  turreted  and 
battlemented  cornice.  The  ceiling  is  elaborately  carved  in  geometric  patterns, 
and  the  tracery  contains  the  alternating  arms  and  crests  of  Vernon  and  Man- 
ners ;  the  remains  are  still  visible  of  the  rich  gilding  and  painting  of  this  ceil- 
ing. In  the  anteroom  paintings  are  hung,  and  from  it  a  strongly-barred  door 
opens  upon  a  flight  of  stone  steps  leading  down  to  the  terrace  and  garden  : 
this  is  "Dorothy  Vernon's  Door;"  and  across  the  garden  another  flight  of 
steps  leading  to  the  terrace  is  known  as  "  Dorothy  Vernon's  Steps."  It  was 
the  gentle  maiden's  flight  through  this  door  and  up  these  steps  to  elope  with 
John  Manners  that  carried  the  old  house  and  all  its  broad  lands  into  the%pos- 
session  of  the  family  now  owning  it.  The  state  bedroom  is  hung  with  Gobelin 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  BANQUET-HALL, 
HAUDON  HALL. 


HADDOX  HALL.  79 


tapestry,  illustrating  Esop's  fables  ;  the  state  bed  is  fourteen  feet  high,  and  fur- 
nished in  green  silk  velvet  and  white  satin,  embroidered  by  needlework,  and 
its  last  occupant  was  George  IV.  The  kitchen  and  range  of  domestic  offices 
are  extensive,  and  show  the  marvellous  amount  of  cooking  that  was  carried  on 
in  the  hospitable  days  of  Haddon  ;  the  kitchen  has  a  ceiling  supported  by  mass- 
ive beams  and  a  solid  oak  column  in  the  centre  ;  there  are  two  huge  (.re- 
places, scores  of  stoves,  spits,  pothooks,  and  hangers,  large  chopping-blocks, 
dressers,  and  tables,  with  attendant  bakehouses,  ovens,  pantries,  and  larders; 
among  the  relics  is  an  enormous  salting-trough  hollowed  out  of  one  immense 
block  of  wood.  Beyond  the  garden  or  lawn,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
square,  extends  the  terrace,  planted  with  ancient  yews,  whose  gnarled  roots 


THE   TERRACE,    HADDOX    HALL. 

intertwine  with  and  displace  the  stones.  This  terrace  extends  the  full  width 
of  the  outer  or  upper  garden,  and  gives  a  charming  view  of  the  southern  front 
of  the  hall. 

More  romance  hangs  about  Haddon  than  probably  any  other  old  baronial 
hall  in  England,  and  it  has  therefore  been  for  years  an  endless  source  of 
inspiration  for  poets,  artists,  and  novelists.  Mrs.  Radcliffe  here  laid  some  of 
the  scenes  of  the  Mysteries  of  Udolpho.  Bennett's  "  King  of  the  Peak  "  was 
Sir  George  Vernon,  the  hospitable  owner  of  Haddon.  Scott  has  written  of  it, 
a  host  of  artists  have  painted  its  most  attractive  features,  and  many  a  poet  has 
sung  of  the 

"  Hall  of  wassail  which  has  rung 

To  the  unquestioned  baron's  jest: 
Dim  old  chapel,  where  were  hung 

Offerings  of  the  o'erfraught  breast ; 
Moss-clad  terrace,  strangely  still, 

liroken  shaft  and  crumbling  frieze — 
Still  as  lips  that  used  to  fill 

With  bugle-blasts  the  morning  breeze." 

But,  unlike  most  baronial  strongholds,  the  history  of  Haddon  tells   only  the 


80  E. \GLA.\D,  1'ICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 

romance  of  peace,  love,  and  hospitality.  It  came  by  marriage  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Vernons  soon  after  the  Conquest;  one  of  them,  Sir  Henry 
Vernon  of  Haddon,  was  appointed  governor  of  Prince  Arthur  by  Henry  VII. 
His  grandson,  Sir  George  Vernon,  lived  in  such  princely  magnificence  at  Had- 
don that  he  was  known  as  the  "  King  of  the  Peak  ;"  his  initials,  "  G.  V.,"  are 
carved  in  the  banquet-hall.  Around  his  youngest  daughter,  Dorothy,  gathers 
the  chief  halo  of  romance.  The  story  in  brief  is,  that  her  elder  sister,  being  the 
affianced  bride  of  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Derby,  was  petted  and  made  much  of, 
while  Dorothy,  at  sweet  sixteen,  was  kept  in  the  background.  She  formed  an 
attachment  for  John  Manners,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Rutland,  but  this  her  family 
violently  opposed,  keeping  her  almost  a  prisoner :  her  lover,  disguised  as  a 
forester,  lurked  for  weeks  in  the  woods  around  Haddon,  obtaining  occasionally 
a  stolen  interview.  At  length  on  a  festal  night,  when  the  ball-room  was  filled 
with  guests  summoned  to  celebrate  the  approaching  nuptials  of  the  elder  sis- 
ter, and  every  one  was  so  wrapped  up  in  enjoyment  that  there  was  no  time  to 
watch  Dorothy,  the  maiden,  unobserved,  stole  out  of  the  ball-room  into  the  ante- 
room, and  through  the  door,  across  the  garden,  and  up  the  steps  to  the  ter- 
race, where  her  lover  had  made  a  signal  that  he  was  waiting.  In  a  moment 
she  was  in  his  arms,  and  rode  away  with  him  in  the  moonlight  all  night,  across 
the  hills  of  Derbyshire,  and  into  Leicestershire,  where  they  were  married  next 
morning.  It  was  the  old  story — an  elopement,  a  grand  row,  and  then  all  was 
forgiven.  Sir  George  Vernon  had  no  sons,  and  his  daughters  divided  his 
estate,  Haddon  going  to  Dorothy,  who  thus  by  her  elopement  carried  the 
famous  hall  over  to  the  family  of  Manners.  Dorothy  died  in  1584,  leaving 
four  children,  the  oldest,  Sir  George  Manners,  living  at  Haddon  and  maintain- 
ing its  hospitable  reputation.  Dying  in  1679,  his  son,  John  Manners,  who  was 
the  ninth  Earl  of  Rutland,  became  the  master  of  Haddon,  and  "  kept  up  the 
good  old  mansion  at  a  bountiful  rate,"  as  the  chronicler  tells  us.  He  kept  one 
hundred  and  forty  servants,  and  had  so  many  retainers  and  guests  that  every 
day  the  tables  in  the  old  banquet-hall  were  spread  as  at  a  Christmas  feast. 
The  earl  was  raised  to  the1  rank  of  duke,  and  his  son  John,  Duke  of  Rut- 
land, known  as  the  "Old  Man  of  the  Hill,"  died  in  1779,  since  which  time  the 
family  have  not  used  the  hall  as  a  place  of  residence,  having  gone  to  Belvoir 
in  Leicestershire.  Its  present  owner  is  the  sixth  Duke  of  Rutland,  Charles 
Cecil  Manners,  and  the  descendant  of  the  famous  Dorothy.  There  are  few 
places,  even  in  England,  that  have  the  fame  of  Haddon,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
chief  spots  sought  out  by  the  tourist.  The  duke  maintains  it  just  as  it  existed 
centuries  ago,  with  the  old  furniture  and  utensils,  so  as  to  reproduce  as  faith- 
fully as  possible  the  English  baronial  hall  of  his  ancestors. 


C//.lTSl\-»KTH. 


8l 


C  H  A  T  S  \\"  (. )  K  T  H  . 

Below  Hadclon  Hall  the  valley  of  the  Wye  broadens,  with  yet  richer  scenery, 
as  it  approaches  the  confluence  of  the  Wye  and  Derwent  at  Rowslev,  where 
the  quaint  old  Peacock  Inn,  which  was 
the  manor-house  of  Hadclon,  bears  over 
the  door  the  date  1653,  and  the  crest 
of  the  ducal  House  of  Rutland,  a  pea- 
cock with  tail  displayed.  Ascending 
for  a  short  distance  the  valley  of  the 
Derwent,  which  washes  the  bases  of 
the  steep  limestone  hills,  we  come  to 
Chatsworth.  In  sharp  contrast  with 
the  ancient  glories  of  Haddon  is  this 
modern  ducal  palace,  for  whose  mug-  «-, 
nificence  Bess  of  Hardwicke  laid  the  THI-:  "PEACOCK,' 

foundation.     This   "  Palace  of  the   Peak  "  stands   in  a  park  covering  over  two 
thousand  acres  ;  the  Derwent  flows  in  front,  over  which  the  road  to  the  palace 


FROM    THi:    KOAU. 


rllATSWOKTH    HOVSK.    KKO.M    T1IK    SOITII- WF.ST. 


82 


>,  /'fCTCKESOl-'E  .l 


MARBLE    DOORWAY    TO 
STATE    DRAWING-ROOM. 


is  carried  by  a  fine  bridge.     From  the  river  a  lawn  gently  slopes  upward  to  the 

buildings,  and  the  wooded  hill  which  rises  sharply  behind  them  is  surmounted 
by  a  hunting-tower,  embosomed  in  trees.  A  herd  of  at 
least  a  thousand  deer  roam  at  will  over  the  park,  and  have 
become  very  tame.  Chatsworth  is  a  brownish-yellow  build- 
ing, square  and  flat-topped,  with  a  modern  and  more  orna- 
mental wing.  Its  front  extends  fully  six  hundred  feet,  and 
in  parts  it  is  of  that  depth.  The  estate  was  bought  in  the 
sixteenth  century  by  Sir  William  Cavendish,  who  built  the 
original  house,  a  quadrangular  building  with  turrets,  which 
was  greatly  extended  by  his  wife.  It  was  used  as  a  fortress 
in  the  Civil  Wars,  and  was  considerably  battered.  The  first 
Duke  of  Devonshire  about  the  year  1700  rebuilt  the  man- 
sion, employing  the  chief  architects,  artists,  designers,  and 
wood-carvers  of  his  time,  among  them  Sir  Christopher 
Wren.  In  the  grounds,  not  far  from  the  bridge  over  the 

Derwent,  is  the  "  Bower  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots."     There  is  a  small,  clear 

lake  almost  concealed  by  foliage,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a  tower,  and  on  the 

top   a  grass-grown   garden,  where  are  also  several  fine  trees.     Here,  under 

guard,  the  captive  was 

permitted  to  take  the 

air.      In    those    days 

she  looked  out  upon 

a  broad   expanse    of 

woods  and  moorland ; 

now  all    around    has 

been    converted   into 

gardens  and  a  park. 

Entering    the    house 

through  a  magnificent 

gateway,   the    visitor 

is  taken  into  the  en- 
trance-hall, where  the 

frescoes  represent  the 

life  and  death  of  Julius 

Caesar ;    then    up  the 

grand  staircase  of  amethyst  and  variegated  alabaster  guarded  by  richly-gilded 

balustrades.     The  gorgeously-embellished  chapel  is  wainscoted  with  cedar,  and 

has  a  sculptured  altar  made  of  Derbyshire  marbles.     The  beautiful  drawing- 


STATE    DRAWING-ROOM,    CHATSWORTH. 


CHATSirOKT/f. 


-room  opens  into  a  series  of  state-apartments  lined  with  choice  woods  and 
hung  with  Gobelin  tapestries  representing  the  cartoons  of  Raphael.  Mag- 
nificent carvings  and  rare  paintings  adorn  the  walls,  while  the  richest  decora- 
tions are  everywhere  displayed.  Over  the  door  of  the  antechamber  is  a  quill 
pen  so  finely  carved  that  it  almost  reproduces  the  real  feather.  In  the  Scarlet 


ATK    BEDROOM,    CHATSWORTH. 


Room  are  the  bed  on  which  George  II.  died  and  the  chairs  and  footstools  used 
at  the  coronation  of  George  III.  On  the  north  side  of  the  house  is  another 
stairway  of  oak,  also  richly  gilded.  In  the  apartments  replacing  those  where 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots  lived  are  her  bed-hangings  and  tapestries.  There  is  an 
extensive  library  with  many  rare  books  and  manuscripts,  and  a  sculpture- 
gallery,  lined  with  Devonshire  marble,  containing  many  statues  and  busts,  and 
also  two  recumbent  lions,  each  nine  feet  long  and  four  feet  high  and  weighing 
four  tons,  and  carved  out  of  a  solid  block  of  marble.  The  final  enlargement 
of  Chatsworth  was  completed  about  forty  years  ago,  when  Queen  Victoria  made 
a  state  visit  and  was  given  a  magnificent  reception  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire. 


84 


ENGLAND,  riCTL'Rl-.SOL'K  AND    DESCRI  I'TIl'E. 


The  gardens  at  Chatsworth  are  as  noted  as  the  house,  and  are  to  many 
minds  the  gem  of  the  estate.  They  cover  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
acres,  and  are  so  arranged  as  to  make  a  beautiful  view  out  of  every  window 
of  the  palace.  All  things  are  provided  that  can  add  to  rural  beauty — foun- 
tains, cascades,  running  streams,  lakes,  rockeries,  orange-groves,  hot-houses, 
woods,  sylvan  dells — and  no  labor  or  expense  is  spared  to  enhance  the 
attractions  of  trees,  flowers,  and  shrubbery.  From  a  stone  temple,  which  it 


THK    S(TMTrRK-f;AT.I.T-:i<Y,    CHATSWORTH. 

completely  covers,  the  great  cascade  flows  down  among  dolphins,  sea-lions, 
and  nymphs,  until  it  disappears  among  the  rocks  and  seeks  an  underground 
outlet  into  the  Derwent.  Enormous  stones  weighing  several  tons  are  nicely 
balanced,  so  as  to  rock  at  the  touch  or  swing  open  for  gates.  Others  overhang 
the  paths  as  if  a  gust  of  wind  might  blow  them  down.  In  honor  of  the  visit 
of  the  Czar  Nicholas  in  1844  the  great  "Emperor  Fountain"  was  constructed, 
which  throws  a  column  of  water  to  an  immense  height.  The  grounds  are  filled 
with  trees  planted  by  kings,  queens,  and  great  people  on  their  visits  tp  the 
palace.  The  finest  of  all  the  trees  is  a  noble  Spanish  chestnut  of  sixteen  feet 


ZfATLOCK  AND   DOVEDALE. 


(iATEWAV    TO   STABI.K. 


girth.  Weeping  willows  do  not  grow  at  Chatsworth,  but  they  have  provided 
one  in  the  form  of  a  metal  tree,  contrived  so  as  to  discharge  a  deluge  of  rain- 
drops from  its  metallic  leaves  and  boughs  when  a  secret  spring  is  touched. 
The  glory  of  the  Chatsworth  gardens,  however,  is  the  conservatory,  a  beautiful 
structure  of  glass  and  iron  covering  nearly  an  acre,  the  arched  roof  in  the 
centre  rising  to  a  height  of  sixty-seven  feet.  In  this  famous  hot-house  are  the 

rarest  palms  and  tropical  plants.  It  was  designed  by 
Joseph  Paxton,  the  duke's  head-gardener,  and.  enlarg- 
ing the  design,  Paxton  constructed  in  the  same  way  the 
London  Crystal  Palace  for  the  Exhibition  of  1851,  for 
which  service  he  was  knighted.  Besides  this  rare  col- 
lection of  hot-house  plants,  the  famous  Victoria  Regia 
is  in  a  special  house  at  Chatsworth,  growing  in  a  tank 
thirty-four  feet  in  diameter,  the  water  being  maintained 
at  the  proper  temperature  and  kept  constantly  in  motion 
as  a  running  stream.  The  seed  for  this  celebrated  plant 
was  brought  from  Guiana,  and  it  first  bloomed  here  in 
1849.  Some  fifty  persons  are  employed  in  the  gardens 
and  grounds,  besides  the  servants  in  the  buildings,  showing  the  retinue  neces- 
sary to  maintain  this  great  show-palace,  for  that  is  its  chief  present  use,  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire  seldom  using  it  as  a 
residence,  as  he  prefers  the  less  preten- 
tious but  more  comfortable  seat  he  pos- 
sesses at  Bolton  in  Yorkshire.  North  of 
Chatsworth  Park,  near  Baslow,  on  top  of  a 
hill,  is  the  strange  mass  of  limestone  which 
can  be  seen  from  afar,  and  is  known  as  the 
Eagle  Rock. 


MATLOCK    AND    DOVEDALE. 

Retracing  the  Derwent  to  the  Wye  again, 
the  valley  of  the  latter  is  open  below  for 
several  miles,  and  then  as  Matlock  is  ap- 
proached a  mass  of  limestone  stretching 
across  the  valley  seems  to  bar  all  egress, 
and  the  river  plunges  through  a  narrow 
glen.  The  bold  gray  crags  of  the  High 
Tor  rise  steeply  on  the  left  hand,  and  the 
gorge  not  being  wide  enough  for  both 


HIGH   TOR,    MATLOCK. 


86 


ENGLAND, 


'I':  A.\l>   1U-.SCK 


river  and   rail\ 


the  latter  pierces  a  tunnel  through  the 
•.  The  river  bends  sharply  to  the  right,  and  the 
makes  a  long  street  along  the  bank  and  rises 
rraces  up  the  steep  hill  behind.  These  are  the 
"Heights  of  Abraham,"  while  the  pretty 
slope  below  the  High  Tor  is  the  "  Lovers' 
Walk."  Matlock  is  beautifully  situated, 
and  its  springs  are  in  repute,  while  the 
caves  in  the  neighborhood  give  plenty 
of  opportunity  for  that  kind  of  explor- 
ation. The  Derbyshire  marbles  are 
quarried  all  about,  and  mosaic  manu- 
facture is  carried  on.  It  was  near  Mat- 
lock  that  Arkwright  first  set  up  his 
cotton-spinning  machine,  and  when  for- 
tune and  fame  had  made  him  Sir  Richard 
Arkwright  he  built  Willersley  Castle  for 
his  home,  on  the  banks  of  the  Derwent. 
The  valley  of  the  little  river  Dove  also 
presents  some  fine  scenery,  especially 
in  the  fantastic  shapes  of  its  rocks.  The 
river  runs  between  steep  hills  fringed 
with  ash  and  oak  and  hawthorn,  and  Dovedale  can  be  pursued  for  miles  with 
interest.  One  of  its  famous  resorts  is  the  old  and  comfortable  Izaak  Walton 


THE   STRAITS.     DOVKIJAI.E. 


HANKS    OF    THF.    DOYK. 


/,' A.  ;r<  •////•:/••  .//?/;  AT. 


Inn,  sacred  to  anglers.  In  Dovedale  are  the 
rocks  called  the  Twelve  Apostles,  the  Tissing- 
ton  Spires,  the  Pickering  Tor,  the  caverns 
known  as  the  Dove  Holes,  and  Reynard's  Hall, 
/hile  the  entire  stream  is  full  of  memories  of 


"~\Ss^WfcHi  tfe--    JK^/M        *'   '*•' 

/:,lv;^£4 

TISSINGTOX    SPIRES. 

those  celebrated  fishermen  of  two  centuries  ago,  Walton  and  his  friend  Cotton. 


ISKAUCHIEF    ABBEY. 

Before  leaving  Derbyshire  the  ruin  of  Beauchief  Abbey,  which  gave  the 
name  of  Abbey  Dale  to  one  of  the  pleasant  vales  on  the  eastern  border  of 
the  county,  must  not  be  forgotten.  It  was  built  seven  hundred  years  ago,  and 
there  remains  but  a  single  fragment  of  this  famous  religious  house,  the  arch  of 
the  great  east  window.  Singularly  enough,  under  the  same  roof  with  the  abbey 
was  built  an  inn,  and  at  a  short  distance  there  is  a  hermitage :  the  hermit's  cave 
is  scooped  out  of  a  rock  elevated  above  the  valley  and  overhung  with  foliage. 
We  are  told  that  a  pious  baker  lived  in  the  town  of  Derby  who  was  noted  for 
his  exemplary  life:  the  Virgin  Mary,  as  a  proof  of  his  faith,  required  him  to 
relinquish  all  his  worldly  goods  and  go  to  Deepdale  and  lead  a  solitary  life 
in  Christ's  service.  He  did  as  he  was  told,  departed  from  Derby,  but  had  no 
idea  where  he  was  to  go  ;  directing  his  footsteps  towards  the  east,  he  passed 
through  a  village,  and  heard  a  woman  instruct  a  girl  to  drive  some  calves  to 
Deepdale.  Regarding  this  a's  an  interposition  of  Providence,'  the  baker, 
encouraged,  asked  where  was  Deepdale  ;  the  woman  told  the  girl  to  show 
him.  Arrived  there,  he  found  it  marshy  land,  distant  from  any  human  habita- 
tion ;  but,  seeking  a  rising  ground,  he  cut  a  small  dwelling  in  a  rock  under  the 
side  of  a  hill,  built  an  altar,  and  there  spent  day  and  night  in  the  Divine  ser- 
vice, with  hunger  and  cold,  thirst  and  want.  Now,  it  happened  that  a  person 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AMI   DESCRIPTIVE. 


of  great  consequence  owned  this  land— Ralph,  the  son  of  Geremund — and 
coming-  to  the  woods  to  hunt,  he  saw  smoke  rising  from  the  hermit's  cave,  and 
was  filled  with  astonishment  that  any  one  should  have  dared  to  establish  a 
dwelling  there  without  his  permission.  Going  to  the  place,  he  found  the  her- 
mit clothed  in  old  rags  and  skins,  and,  inquiring  about  his  case,  Ralph's  anger 
changed  to  pity.  To  show  his  compassion,  he  granted  the  hermit  the  ground 
where  the  hermitage  stood,  and  also  for  his  support  the  tithe  of  a  mill  not  far 
away.  The  tradition  further  relates  "that  the  old  Enemy  of  the  human  race" 
then  endeavored  to  make  the  hermit  dissatisfied  with  his  condition,  but  "  he 
resolutely  endured  all  its  calamities,"  and  ultimately  he  built  a  cottage  and 
oratory,  and  ended  his  days  in  the  service  of  Gdd.  After  his  death,  Ralph's 
daughter  prevailed  upon  her  husband  to  dedicate  Deepdale  to  religious  uses, 
and  he  inviting  the  canons,  they  built  the  abbey.  We  are  tolcl  in  Howitt's 
Forest  Aliiistrcl  of  the  wonder  caused  by  the  construction  of  the  abbey, 
and  also  how  in  later  years  the  monks  became  corrupted  by  prosperity.  A 
place  is  shown  to  visitors  where  the  wall  between  the  chapel  and  the  inn  gave 
way  to  the  thirsty  zeal  of  the  monks,  and  through  an  opening  their  favorite 
liquor  was  handed.  The  Forest  Minstrel  tells  us  they 

"  Forsook  missal  and  mass 
To  chant  o'er  a  bottle   or  shrive  a  lass  ; 
Xo  matin's  bell  called  them  up  in  the  morn, 
lint  the  yell  of  the  hounds  and  sound  of  the  horn  ; 
Xo  penance  the  monk  in  his  cell  could  stay 
Hut  a  broken  leg  or  a  rainy  day  : 
The  pilgrim  that  came  to  the  abbey-doer, 
With  the  feet  of  the  fallow-deer  found  it  nailed   o'er ; 
The  pilgrim  that  into  the  kitchen  was  led, 
( )n  Sir  Gilbert's  venison  there  was  fed, 
And  saw  skins  and  antlers  hang  o'er  his  head." 

S  T  A  K  1  ( )  K  I )    A  X  D    T  R  K  NTH  A  M . 

The  rivers  which  drain  the  limestone  hills  of  Derbyshire  unite  to  form  the 
Trent,  and  this  stream,  after  a  winding  and  picturesque  course  through  Mid- 
land England  towards  the  eastward,  flows  into  the  Humber,  and  ultimately 
into  the  North  Sea.  Its  first  course  after  leaving  Derby  is  through  Stafford- 
shire, one  of  the  great  manufacturing  counties  of  England,  celebrated  for  its 
potteries,  whose  product  Josiah  Wedgewood  so  greatly  improved.  The  county- 
seat  is  Stafford,  on  the  Sow  River,  not  far  from  the  Trent  Valley,  and  on  a  high 
hill  south-west  of  the  town  are  the  remains  of  the  castle  of  the  Barons,  of 
Stafford,  originally  built  a  thousand  years  ago  by  the  Saxons  to  keep  the  Danes 


STAFFOKD   A.\/>    TRE.\TII.l.\T. 


89 


in  check.  This  castle  was  destroyed  and  rebuilt  by  William  the  Conqueror ; 
again  destroyed  and  again  rebuilt  by  Ralph  de  Stafford  in  Edward  Ill's  reign. 
In  the  Civil  Wars  this  castle  was  one  of  the  last  strongholds  of  King  Charles  I, 
but  it  was  ultimately  taken  by  Cromwell's  troops  and  demolished,  excepting  the 
keep ;  a  massive  castellated  building  of  modern  construction  now  occupies  its 
place.  The  river  Trent,  in  its  winding  course,  forms  near  Trentham  a  fine 
lake,  and  the  beautiful  neighborhood  has  been  availed  of  for  the  establishment 
of  the  splendid  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  about  a  mile  west  of  the 
village,  and  known  as  Trentham  Hall.  The  park  is  extensive,  the  gardens  are 
laid  out  around  the  lake,  and  the  noble  Italian  building,  which  is  of  recent  con- 


TKKXTHAM    HALL. 


struction,  has  a  fine  campanile  tower  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  occupies  a 
superb  situation.  The  old  church  makes  part  of  Trentham  Hall,  and  contains 
monuments  of  the  duke's  family  and  ancestors,  the  Leveson-Gowers,  whose 
extensive  estates  cover  a  wide  domain  in  Staffordshire.  Trentham,  which  is 
in  the  pottery  district  and  not  far  from  Newcastle-under-Lyme,  was  originally 
a  monastery,  founded  by  St.  Werburgh,  niece  of  yEthelred.  She  was  one  of 
the  most  famous  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  saints,  and  some  venerable  yews  still 
mark  the  spot  where  her  original  house  stood,  it  being  known  as  Tricengham. 
These  yews,  said  to  have  been  planted  about  that  time,  form  three  sides  of  a 
square.  The  religious  house,  rebuilt  in  William  Rufus's  reign,  was  given,  at 
the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  by  Henry  VIII,  to  his  brother-in-law,  Charles 
Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  and  it  afterwards  came  into  possession  of  the  Lev- 
esons.  From  the  marriage  of  a  daughter  of  Sir  John  Leveson  with  Sir  Thomas 
Gower  sprang  the  family  of  the  present  ducal  house  of  Sutherland,  the  head 
of  it  being  created  Marquis  of  Stafford  in  1786  and  Duke  of  Sutherland  in 
1833.  The  present  cluke  is  the  third  who  has  held  the  title,  his  mother  having 


9o 


A.\I>  DESCRIPTIVE. 


TKENTUAM    MALI, — ON    THE    ']  ERRATIC. 


been  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle — the  famous  Harriet,  Duchess  of 
Sutherland.  The  old  Trentham  Hall  was  built  in  1633,  being  rebuilt  and  en- 
larged by  Sir  Charles  Barry  about  fifty  years  ago. 


TAMWORTH    AND    TUTIU'RY 

Staffordshire   contains   some    famous    places.     In 


the  eastern  part  of  the 
county,  bordering  Warwick,  is  the  ancient  town  of  Tamworth,  standing  upon 
the  little  river  Tame  ;  this  was  originally  a  fortification  built  for  defence  against 
the  Danes,  and  its  castle  was  founded  by  Marmion,  of  whom  Scott  writes, 


"  They  hailed  Lord  Marmion, 

They  hailed  him  Lord  of  Fontenaye. 
Of  Luttenvard  and  Scrivelbaye, 
Of  Tamworth  tower  and  town." 


Tamworth   is   also   Shakespearian  ground,   for  here    Richmond   halted   on   his 


TA.\l\\'OKTIl  AXD    Tl'THL'RY.  91 


march  to  Bosworth  Field,  and  made  a  stirring  address  to  inspire  his  forces  for 
the  coming  combat.  In  later  years  Tamworth  sent  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  his  bronze  statue  adorns  the  market-square  ;  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
castle  are  almost  obliterated,  and  the  present  castle  is  upon  higher  ground,  its 
architecture  being  of  various  periods.  Tutbury  Castle,  of  which  little  is  left 
but  a  straggling  mass  of  ruins,  stands  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  Dove, 
and  crowns  a  ridge  of  red  sandstone  rock  :  it  was  a  great  stronghold,  founded 
by  John  of  Gaunt,  covering  several  acres,  and  was  demolished  after  the  Civil 
Wars.  This  castle,  like  so  many  other  famous  places,  was  also  one  of  the 
prison-palaces  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  ;  although  the  castle  is  destroyed,  yet 
near  by  is  its  parish  church  of  St.  Mary,  founded  by  Henry  de  Ferrars  in  the 
reign  of  William  Rufus,  and  known  then  as  Ferrars  Abbey ;  its  west  end  is  one 
of  the  most  perfect  Norman  fronts  remaining  in  England,  and  it  has  been  care- 
fully restored.  Tutbury  is  known  for  some  of  its  ancient  customs,  among  them 
the  annual  bull-running.  A  minstrel  band,  after  devotions  and  a  long  sermon  in 
the  abbey,  had  an  excellent  dinner  in  the  castle,  and  then  repairing  to  the  abbey- 
gate  demanded  the  bull ;  the  prior  let  the  bull  out,  with  his  horns  and  tail  cut 
off,  his  ears  cropped,  his  body  greased,  and  his  nostrils  filled  with  pepper  to 
make  him  furious.  The  bull  being  let  loose,  the  steward  proclaimed  that  none 
were  to  come  nearer  than  forty  feet,  nor  to  hinder  the  minstrels,  but  all  were 
to  attend  to  their  own  safety.  The  minstrels  were  to  capture  the  bull  before 
sunset,  and  on  that  side  of  the  river,  but  if  they  failed  or  he  escaped  across 
the  stream,  he  remained  the  lord's  property.  It  was  seldom  possible  to  take 
him  fairly,  but  if  he  was  held  long  enough  to  cut  off  some  of  his  hair  it  was 
considered  a  capture,  and  after  a  bull-baiting  he  was  given  to  the  minstrels. 
Thus  originated  the  Tutbury  bull-running,  which  ultimately  degenerated  into 
a  scene  of  wild  debauchery,  often  resulting  in  a  terrible  riot.  The  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  when  he  came  into  possession  of  Tutbury,  was  compelled  to  abol- 
ish the  custom.  About  six  miles  from  Stafford  is  Chartley  Castle,  dating  from 
the  Conquest,  and  belonging  to  the  FZarls  of  Chester  and  Derby,  and  subse- 
quently to  the  famous  Earl  of  Essex,  who  here  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth, 
and  afterwards  planned  the  plot  for  which  she  signed  his  death-warrant.  This 
castle  has  been  many  years  in  ruins:  it  had  a  circular  keep  about  fifty  feet  in 
diameter,  and  the  present  remains  are  chiefly  the  fragments  of  two  round 
towers  and  part  of  a  wall  twelve  feet  thick,  with  loopholes  constructed  for 
shooting  arrows  at  an  attacking  force.  Queen  Mary  was  also  imprisoned 
here,  and  a  bed  said  to  have  been  wrought  by  her  is  shown  in  the  village. 
This  unfortunate  queen  seems  to  have  had  more  prisons  and  wrought  more 
needlework  than  any  other  woman  in  Britain. 


92  ENGLAND,  r/C'/'L'RESOL'E  A\I)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


ALTON    TOWERS. 

Alton  Towers,  the  superb  home  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  is  also  in  Stafford- 
shire, and  is  one  of  the  famous  seats  of  England.  The  estate  stands  on  the 
Churnet,  and  the  house  and  grounds  are  on  one  side  of  its  deep  valley.  The 
present  mansion,  a  modern  Gothic  structure,  was  built  about  fifty  years  ago 
on  a  rocky  plateau  overlooking  the  valley.  An  extensive  park  surrounds  the 
mansion,  and  there  are  several  entrances.  Of  these  Ouicksall  Lodge  ushers 
the  visitor  to  a  magnificent  approach  known  as  the  "  Earl's  Drive,"  extending 
three  miles  along  the  valley  of  the  Churnet,  and  having  its  natural  advantages 
increased  by  the  profuse  distribution  along  the  route  of  statues,  busts,  and 
ornamental  vases.  Another  entrance  is  from  the  railway-station,  where  is  a 
lodge  of  great  beauty,  from  which  the  road,  about  a  mile  in  length,  gradually 
ascends  to  the  eminence  where  the  mansion  stands.  The  approach  by  both 
roads  is  fine,  and  through  the  intervening  foliage  the  Towers  open  upon  the 
view — rich  in  spire,  dome,  and  gable,  and  with  their  fair  proportions  enhanced 
by  the  arcades  that  adorn  the  house  and  the  antique  stone  setting  that  brings 
out  the  majesty  of  the  Gothic  architecture.  The  gardens  of  this  fine  place  are 
beautiful,  their  extent  being  made  apparently  greater  than  in  reality  by  the 
artificially-formed  terraces  and  other  resources  of  the  landscape  artist.  The 
grounds  are  most  lavishly  ornamented  with  statuary,  vases,  temples,  and  foun- 
tains, while  gardening  is  carried  to  perfection.  There  is  a  grand  conservatory, 
containing  a  palm-house  and  orangery.  From  the  top  of  an  elaborate  Gothic 
temple  four  stories  high  there  is  a  fine  view,  while  the  Flag  Tower,  a  massive 
building  with  four  turrets,  and  six  stories  high,  is  used  as  an  observatory.  There 
is  a  delightful  retreat  for  the  weary  sightseer  called  the  Refuge,  a  fine  imitation 
of  Stonehenge,  and  Ina's  Rock,  where  Ina,  king  of  Wessex,  held  a  parliament 
after  his  battle  with  the  king  of  Mercia.  The  picturesque  ruins  of  Alton  Castle 
and  convent  are  in  the  grounds,  also  the  ruins  of  Croxclen  Abbey  and  the 
charming  Alton  Church,  which  was  of  Norman  foundation.  The  castle  existed 
at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  and  the  domain  in  1408,  through  the  marriage  of 
Maude  Neville  to  John  Talbot,  was  brought  into  the  possession  of  the  present 
family,  Talbot  having  been  afterwards  made  the  first  Earl  of  Shrewsbury.  This 
was  the  famous  English  warrior  who  was  so  feared  in  France,  where  he  con- 
ducted brilliant  campaigns,  that  "with  his  name  the  mothers  stilled  their  babes." 
He  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Chatillon  in  his  eightieth  year.  It  was  the  sixth 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury  who  married  Bess  of  Hardwicke  and  made  her  fourth 
husband.  It  was  the  fifteenth  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  who  erected  the  present 
magnificent  structure,  with  its  varied  turrets  and  battlements,  for  his  summer 


93 


residence,  where  before  stood  a  plain  house  known  as  Alton  Lodge.  Upon 
his  tomb,  in  memory  of  the  wonderful  change  he  wrought  in  the  place,  is  the 
significant  motto :  "  He  made  the  desert  smile."  The  nineteenth  earl  is  now 
in  possession. 


SHRKWSBL'RV. 


Westward  of  Stafford  is  the  land  of  the  "proud  Salopians,"  Shropshire, 
through  which  flows  the  Severn,  on  whose  banks  stands  the  ancient  town 
from  which  the  Earls  of  Shrewsbury  take  their  title.  We  are  told  that  the 


SHREWSBURY    CASTLE,    FROM    THE    RAILWAY-STATION. 

Britons  founded  this  town,  and  that  in  Edward  the  Confessor's  time  it  had 
five  churches  and  two  hundred  and  thirty  houses,  fifty-one  of  which  were 
cleared  away  to  make  room  for  the  castle  erected  by  Roger  de  Montgomery, 
a  kinsman  of  William  the  Conqueror.  The  Norman  king  created  him  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury  long  before  the  present  line  of  earls  began  with  John  Talbot. 
Wars  raged  around  the  castle  :  it  was  besieged  and  battered,  for  it  stood  an 
outpost  in  the  borderland  of  Wales.  It  was  here  that  Henry  IV.  assembled 
an  army  to  march  against  Glendower,  and  in  the  following  year  fought  the 
battle  of  Shrewsbury  against  Hotspur,  then  marching  to  join  Glendower.  Hot- 


94 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


HEAD-QUARTERS   OF    HENRY    VII.  ON  HIS    WAV    TO    BOSWORTH 
FIELD,    SHREWSBURY. 


spur's  death  decided  the  battle.  The  Wars  of  the  Roses  were  fought  around 
the  town,  and  here  Henry  VII.,  then  the  Earl  of  Richmond,  slept  when  going 
to  Bosworth  Field ;  and  in  the  Civil  Wars  King  Charles  had  Shrewsbury's 

support,  but  Cromwell's 
forces  captured  it.  The 
town  is  on  a  fine  pen- 
insula almost  encircled 
by  the  Severn,  and  the 
castle  stands  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  peninsula. 
Only  the  square  keep 
and  part  of  the  inner 
walls  remain  of  the 
original  castle,  but  a 
hne  turret  has  been 
added  by  modern  hands. 
In  the  neighborhood  of 
Shrewsbury  are  the  re- 
mains of  the  Roman  city  of  Uriconium,  said  to  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
Saxons  in  the  sixth  century.  Shrewsbury  has  always  been  famous  for  pageants, 
its  annual  show  being  a  grand  display  by  the  trade  societies.  It  is  also  famous 
for  its  cakes,  of  which  Shenstone  says : 

"  And  here  each  season  do  those 
cakes  abide, 

Whose  honored  names  the  in- 
ventive city  own, 

Rendering  through  Britain's  isle 
Salopia's  praises  known." 

The  great  Shrewsbury 
cake  is  the  "  simnel," 
made  like  a  pie,  the  crust 
colored  with  saffron  and 
very  thick.  It  is  a  con-  } 
fection  said  to  be  unsafe 
when  eaten  to  excess,  for 
an  old  gentleman,  writing 
from  melancholy  experi- 
ence in  1595,  records  that 


__   , 


ON    BATTLEFIELD    ROAD,    SHREWSBURY. 


sodden  bread  which  bee  called  simnels  bee  verie 


unwholesome."     The  Shropshire  legend  about  its  origin  is  that  a  happy  couple 


RKfnGK.VORTff  AXD    U'EXLOCK  ARREY. 


95 


got  into  a  dispute  whether  they  should  have  for  dinner  a  boiled  pudding  or  a 
baked  pie.  While  they  disputed  they  got  hungry,  and  came  to  a  compromise  by 
first  boiling  and  then  baking  the  dish  that  was  prepared.  To  the  grand  result 
of  the  double  process — his  name  being  Simon  and  her's  Nell — the  combined 
name  of  simnel  was  given.  And  thus  from  their  happily-settled  contention  has 

come  Shrewsbury's  great  cake,  of  which 
all  England  acknowledges  the  merit. 


I;KI  IX;KNORTH  AND  WENLOCK 

ABBEY. 

Following  down  the  Severn  River  from 
Shrewsbury,  we  come  to  Bridgenorth,  an 
ancient  town  planted  on  a  steep  hill,  full  of 
quaint  houses,  and   having  an  old  covered 
market  where  the  country-people  gather  on 
Saturdays.      The  lower  part  is  of  brick,  and 
the  upper  part  is  black-and-white-timbered,  but 
the  human  love  for  what  is  old  and  familiar  is 
shown  by  the  way  in  which  the  people  still  fill 
up  the  old  market-house,  though  a  fine  new  one 
has  recently  been  built.     The  most  prized  of  the 

old  houses  of  this  venerable   town   is  a  foundry  and  blacksmith   shop 
standing  by  the  river ;  it  was  in  this  house  that  Bishop  Percy,  author  of  the 


I'.RIDGENORTH. 

1.  From  near  Oldbury. 

2.  Keep  of  the  Castle. 


96 


E.\GLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A\JD   DESCR1PTI\'E. 


Religues,  was  born.  On  the  promontory 
of  sandstone,  which  steeply  rises  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  above  the 
river,  the  upper  part  of  the  town  is  built, 
and  here  are  the  ruins  of  Bridgenorth 
Castle,  which  stood  in  an  exceptionally 
strong  situation.  The  red  sandstone  pre- 
dominates here,  but  not  much  of  it  remains 
in  the  castle,  there  being  little  left  except- 
ing a  huge  fragment  of  the  massive  wall 
of  the  keep,  which  now  inclines  so  much 
on  one  side  from  the  settlement  of  the 
foundation  as  to  be  almost  unsafe.  This 
castle  was  built  eight  hundred  years  ago 
by  the  third  and  last  of  the  Norman  Earls 
of  Shrewsbury ;  it  was  held  for  King 
Charles  in  the  Civil  Wars,  and  under- 
went a  month's  siege  before  it  surren- 
dered, when  the  conquerors  destroyed  it. 
Bridgenorth  is  the  most  picturesque  of 
all  the  towns  on  the  Severn,  owing  to  the 
steep  promontory  up  which  the  houses 
extend  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  town  and  the  magnificent  views  from  the 
castle.  The  communication  with  the  hill  is  by  a  series  of  steeply-winding 
alleys,  each  being  almost  a  continuous  stairway  : 
they  are  known  as  the  "Steps."  A  bridge  with 
projecting  bastions  crosses  the  river  and  connects 
the  higher  with  the  lower  parts  of  the  town,  thus 
giving  the  place  its  name. 

About  twelve  miles  south-east  of  Shrewsbury  is 
the  village  of  Much  Wenlock,  where  there  are  re- 
mains of  a  magnificent  abbey  founded  by  the  Black 
monks,  and  exhibiting  several  of  the  Early  Eng- 
lish and  Gothic  styles  of  architecture,  but,  like 
most  else  in  these  parts,  it  has  fallen  in  ruin,  and 
many  of  the  materials  have  been  carried  off  to 
build  other  houses.  Portions  of  the  nave,  tran- 
septs, chapter-house,  and  abbot's  house  remain, 
the  latter  being  restored  and  making  a  fine  spe-  LODGE  OF  MUCH  WEXLOCK  AHBEV. 


HOUSE    WHERE     UISIIOP    PERCY    WAS    HORN, 
BRIDGENORTH. 


].l'hl.0l\'  CATTLE. 


97 


cimen  of  ecclesiastical  domestic  architecture  built  around  a  court.  -  An  open 
cloister  extends  the  entire  length  of  the  house.  There  are  beautiful  intersect- 
ing Norman  arches  in  the  chapter- 
house. There  are  some  quaint 
old  houses  in  the  town — timbered 
structures  with  bold  bow- windows 
— and  not  a  few  of  them  of  great 
age.  Roger  de  Montgomery  is 
credited  with  founding  Wenlock 
Abbey  at  the  time  of  the  Norman 
Conquest.  The  site  was  previously 
occupied  by  a  nunnery,  said  to  have 
been  the  burial-place  of  St.  Mil- 
burgh,  who  was  the  granddaugh- 
ter of  King  Penda  of  Mercia.  This 
was  a  famous  religious  house  in 
its  day,  and  it  makes  a  picturesque 
ruin,  while  the  beauty  of  the  neigh- 
boring scenery  shows  how  careful 
the  recluses  and  religious  men  of 
old  were  to  cast  their  lots  and  build 
their  abbeys  in  pleasant  places. 


\VEXLOCK. 


LUDLOW    CASTLE. 

The  most  important  of  all  the  castles  in  the  middle  marches  of  Wales  was 
Ludlow,  whose  grand  ruins,  mouldered  into  beauty,  stand  upon  the  river  Tame, 
near  the  western  border  of  Shropshire.  It  was  here  that  the  lord  president 
of  the  Council  of  Wales  held  his  court.  Its  ruins,  though  abandoned,  have  not 
fallen  into  complete  decay,  so  that  it  gives  a  fine  representation  of  the  ancient 
feudal  border  stronghold :  it  is  of  great  size,  with  long  stretches  of  walls  and 
towers,  interspersed  with  thick  masses  of  foliage  and  stately  trees,  while  beneath 
is  the  dark  rock  on  which  it  is  founded.  It  was  built  shortly  after  the  Conquest 
by  Roger  de  Montgomery,  and  after  being  held  by  the  Norman  Earls  of 
Shrewsbury  it  was  fortified  by  Henry  I.  ;  then  Joyce  de  Dinan  held  it,  and 
confined  Hugh  de  Mortimer  as  prisoner  in  one  of  the  towers,  still  known  as 
Mortimer's  Tower.  Edward  IV.  established  it  as  the  place  of  residence  for 
the  lord  president  of  the  Council  that  governed  Wales:  here  the  youthful 
King  Edward  Y.  was  proclaimed,  soon  to  mysteriously  disappear.  From  Lud- 
low Castle,  Wales  was  governed  for  more  than  three  centuries,  and  in  Queen 
is 


98 


/•:.\CLA.\/>,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCK/PT/l'E. 


Elizabeth's  time  many  important  additions  were  made  to  it.  The  young  Philip 
Sidney  lived  here,  his  father  being  the  lord  president ;  the  stone  bridge,  repla- 
cing the  drawbridge,  and  the  great  portal  were  built  at  that  time.  In  1634, 
Milton's  "  Masque  of  Comus  "  was  represented  here  while  Earl  Bridgewater 
was  lord  president,  one  of  the  scenes  being  the  castle  and  town  of  Ludlow : 
this  representation  was  part  of  the  festivities  attending  the  earl's  installation 
on  Michaelmas  Night.  It  was  in  Ludlow  Castle  that  Butler  wrote  part  of 


•  .:v^  _:,-?-.^,.-. 


LUDLOW   CASTI.K. 


Hudibras.  The  castle  was  held  for  King  Charles,  but  was  delivered  up  to  the 
Parliamentary  forces  in  1646.  The  present  exterior  of  the  castle  denotes  its 
former  magnificence.  The  foundations  are  built  into  a  dark  gray  rock,  and  the 
castle  rises  from  the  point  of  a  headland,  the  northern  front  consisting  of 
square  towers  with  high,  connecting  embattled  walls.  In  the  last  century 
trees  were  planted  on  the  rock  and  in  the  deep  and  wide  ditch  that  guarded 
the  castle.  The  chief  entrance  is  by  a  gateway  under  a  low,  pointed  arch 
which  bears  the  arms  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  of  Earl  Pembroke.  There  are 
several  acres  enclosed,  and  the  keep  is  an  immense  square  tower  of  the  Early 
Norman,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  high  and  ivy-mantled  to  the  top.  On  its 


J.I 'PLOW  CASTLE. 


99 


ground  floor  is  the  dungeon,  half  underground,  with  square  openings  in  the 
floor  connecting  with  the  apartment  above.  The  great  hall  is  now  without 
roof  or  floor,  and  a  tower  at  the  west  end  is  called  Prince  Arthur's  Tower, 
while  there  are  also  remains  of  the  old  chapel.  The  ruins  have  an  imposing 
aspect,  the  towers  being  richly  clustered  around  the  keep.  This  famous  castle 
is  now  the  property  of  Earl  Powis. 

The  town  of  Ludlow  adjoins  the  castle, 
and  on  approaching  it  the  visitor  is  struck 
by  the  fine  appearance  of  the  tower  of 
the  church  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  church 
is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  Shropshire, 
and  this  tower  was  built  in  the  time  of 
Edward  IV.  Its  chantry  is  six  hundred 
years  old,  and  belonged  to  the  Palmers' 
guild.  Their  ordinances  are  still  pre- 
served, one  of  which  is  to  the  effect 
that  "  if  any  man  wishes,  as  is  the  cus- 
tom, to  keep  night-watches  with  the 
dead,  this  may  be  allowed,  provided 
that  he  does  not  call  up  ghosts."  The 
town  is  filled  with  timber-ribbed,  par- 
getted  houses,  one  of  the  most  striking 
of  these  being  the  old  Feathers  Inn. 
The  exterior  is  rich  in  various  devices, 
including  the  feathers  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  adopted  as  the  sign  perhaps 
in  the  days  of  Prince  Arthur,  when  the 
inn  was  built.  Many  of  the  rooms  are 
panelled  with  carved  oak  and  have 
quaintly  moulded  ceilings.  It  is  not 
often  that  the  modern  tourist  has  a 
chance  to  rest  under  such  a  venerable  roof,  for  it  is  still  a  comfortable  hostelrie. 
The  ancient  priory  of  Austin  Friars  was  at  Ludlow,  but  is  obliterated. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Ludlow  are  many  attractive  spots.  From  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Vignals,  about  four  miles  away,  there  is  a  superb  view  over  the  hills 
of  Wales  to  the  south  and  west,  and  the  land  of  Shropshire  to  the  northward. 
Looking  towards  Ludlow,  immediately  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  seen  the  wooded 
valley  of  Hay  Park:  it  was  here  that  the  children  of  the  Earl  of  Bridgewater 
were  lost,  an  event  that  gave  Milton  occasion  to  write  the  "  Masque  of  Comus," 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE   COUNCIL-CHAMBER,    l.rni.ow 
CASTLE. 


IOO 


ENGLAND,  riCTl'KESOl'i:  A.\/>    DESCRIPTIVE. 


and  locate  its- scenes  at  and 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Lud- 
low.  Richard's  Castle  is  at 
the  southern  end  of  this 
wood,  but  there  is  not  much 
of  the  old  ruin  left  in  the 
deep  dingle.  At  Downton 
Castle  the  romantic  walks 
in  the  gardens  abound  in 
an  almost  endless  variety 
of  ferns.  Staunton  Lacey 
Church,  containing  Roman- 
esque work,  and  supposed 
to  be  older  than  the  Con- 
quest, is  also  near  Ludlow. 
But  the  grand  old  castle 
and  its  quaint  and  vene- 
rated Feathers  Inn  are 
the  great  attractions  before 
which  all  others  pale.  What 
an  amazing  tale  of  revelry, 
pageant,  and  intrigue  they 
could  tell  were  only  the 
old  walls  endowed  with 
voice ! 


THF.    "  FKATUKKS        MOTEL,    I.UDI.OW. 


I.ICHKIKL1)    CATHF.ORAI,. 

We  are  told  that  in  Central  Staffordshire  churches  with  spires  are  rare. 
The  region  of  the  Trent  abounds  in  low  and  simple  rather  than  lofty  church- 
towers,  but  to  this  rule  the  cathedral  city  of  Lichfield  is  an  exception,  having 
five  steeples,  of  which  three  beautiful  spires — often  called  the  "  Ladies  of  the 
Yale"'— adorn  the  cathedral  itself.  The  town  stands  in  a  fertile  and  gently 
undulating  district  without  ambitious  scenery,  and  the  cathedral,  which  is  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  long  and  its  spires  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
feet  high,  is  its  great  and  almost  only  glory.  It  is  an  ancient  place,  dating 
from  the  days  of  the  Romans  and  the  Saxons,  when  the  former  slaughtered 
without  mercy  a  band  of  the  early  Christian  martyrs  near  the  present  site  of 
the  town,  whence  it  derives  its  name,  meaning  the  "  Field  of  the  Dead."  This 


LICHFIEI.D    C.I  THEDKAL. 


IOI 


massacre  took  place  in  the  fourth  century,  and  in  memory  of  it  the  city  bears 
as  its  arms  "  an  escutcheon  of  landscape,  with  many  martyrs  in  it  in  several 
ways  massacred."  In  the  seventh  century  a  church  was  built  there,  and  the 
hermit  St.  Chad  became  its  bishop.  His  cell  was  near  the  present  site  of 
Stowe,  where  there  was  a  spring  of  clear  water  rising  in  the  heart  of  a  forest, 
and  out  of  the  woods 
there  daily  came  a  snow- 
white  doe  to  supply  him 
with  milk.  The  legend 
tells  that  the  nightingales 
singing  in  the  trees  dis- 
tracted the  hermit's  pray- 
ers, so  he  besought  that 
he  might  be  relieved  from 
this  trial  ;  and  since  that 
time  the  nightingales  in 
the  woods  of  Stowe  have 
remained  mute.  After 
death  the  hermit-bishop 
was  canonized  and  Lich- 
field  flourished,  at  least 
one  of  his  successors  be- 
ing an  archbishop.  St. 
Chad's  Well  is  still  point- 
ed out  at  Stowe,  but  his 
Lichfield  church  long  ago 
disappeared.  A  Xorman 
church  succeeded  it  in  the 
eleventh  century,  and  has  UCHFIELD  CATHEDRAL,  WEST  FRONT. 

also  been  removed,  though  some  ot  its  foundations  remain  under  the  present 
cathedral  choir.  About  the  year  1200  the  first  parts  of  the  present  cathedral 
were  built,  and  it  was  over  a  hundred  years  in  building.  Its  architecture  is 
Earl)  English  and  Decorated,  the  distinguishing  features  being  the  three  spires, 
the  beautiful  western  front,  and  the  Lady  Chapel.  The  latter  terminates  in  a 
polygonal  apse  of  unique  arrangement,  and  the  red  sandstone  of  which  the 
cathedral  is  built  gives  a  warm  and  effective  coloring.  Some  of  the  ancient 
bishops  of  Lichfield  were  fighting  men,  and  at  times  their  cathedral  was  made 
into  a  castle  surrounded  by  walls  and  a  moat,  and  occasionally  besieged.  The 
Puritans  grievously  battered  it,  and  knocked  down  the  central  spire.  The 


102 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


cathedral  was  afterwards  rebuilt  by 
Christopher  Wren,  and  the  work  of 
restoration  is  at  present  going  on.  As 
all  the  old  stained  glass  was  knocked 
out  of  the  windows  during  the  Civil 
Wars,  several  of  them  have  been  re- 
filled with  fine  glass  from  the  abbey 
at  Liege.  Most  of  the  ancient  monu- 
ments were  also  destroyed  during  the 
sieges,  but  many  fine  tombs  of  more 
modern  construction  replace  them, 
among  them  being  the  famous  tomb 
by  Chantrey  of  the  "  Sleeping  Chil- 
dren." The  ancient  chroniclers  tell 
bad  stories  of  the  treatment  this 
famous  church  received  during  the 


IRAL, 


Civil  Wars.  When  the  spire  was 
knocked  down,  crushing  the  roof,  a 
marksman  in  the  church  shot  Lord 
Brooke,  the  leader  of  the  Parliament- 
ary besiegers,  through  his  helmet,  of 
which  the  visor  was  up,  and  he  fell 
dead.  The  marksman  was  a  deaf  and 
dumb  man,  and  the  event  happened 
on  St.  Chad's  Day,  March  2cl.  The 
loss  of  their  leader  redoubled  the 
ardor  of  the  besiegers ;  they  set  a 
battery  at  work  aad  forced  a  sur- 
render in  three  clays.  Then  we  are 
told  that  they  demolished  monuments, 
pulled  down  carvings,  smashed  the 
windows,  destroyed  the  records,  set 


I, HI  I  FIELD    CATHEDRAL,    RF.AR    VIF.W. 


LICHFTELD    CA  THE  URAL. 


103 


up  guard-houses  in  the  cross-aisles,  broke  up  the  pavement,  every  day  hunted 
a  cat  through  the  church,  so  as  to  enjoy  the  echo  from  the  vaulted  roof,  and 
baptized  a  calf  at  the  font.  The  Royalists,  however,  soon  retook  Lichfield, 
and  gave  King  Charles  a  reception  after  the  battle  of  Naseby,  but  it  finally 
surrendered  to  Cromwell  in  1646.  Until  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  the 
cathedral  lay  in  ruins,  even  the  lead  having  been  removed  from  the  roof.  In 
1661,  Bishop  Hacket  was  consecrated,  and  for  eight  years  he  steadily  worked 
at  rebuilding,  having  so  far  advanced  in  1669  that  the  cathedral  was  reconse- 
crated with  great  ceremony.  His  last  work  was  to  order  the  bells,  three  of 
which  were  hung  in  time  to  toll  at  his  funeral  ;  his  tomb  is  in  the  south  aisle 
of  the  choir. 

Lichfield  has  five  steeples,  grouped  together  in  most  views  of  the  town 
from  the  Vale  of  Trent,  the  other  two  steeples  belonging  to  St.  Mary's  and 
St.  Michael's  churches  ;  the  church- 
yard of  the  latter  is  probably  the 
largest  in  England,  covering  seven 
acres,  through  which  an  avenue  of 
stately  elms  leads  up  to  the  church. 
The  town  has  not  much  else  in  the 
way  of  buildings  that  .  is  remarkable. 
In  a  plain  house  at  a  corner  of  the 
market-place,  where  lived  one  Michael 
Johnson,  a  bookseller.  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  his  son,  was  born  in  1  709, 


and  in  the    adjacent    market-place   is 

Dr.  Johnson's  statue  upon  a  pedestal 

adorned  with  bas-reliefs:   one  of  these 

represents  the   "  infant    Samuel  "   sit- 

ting on  his  lather's  shoulder  to  imbibe 

Tory  principles  from  Dr.  Sacheverel's 

sermons  ;  another,  the  boy  carried  by 

his  schoolfellows  ;   and  a  third  displays 

him  undergoing  a  penance   for  youth- 

ful disobedience  by  standing  up  for  an  BR.  JOHNSON'S  BIRTHPLACE,  LICHFIELD. 

hour  bareheaded  in   the   rain.     The  "Three  Crowns  Inn"  is  also  in  the  mar- 

ket-place, where  in  1776  Boswell  and  Johnson   stayed,  and,  as   Boswell   writes, 

"had  a  comfortable  supper  and  got  into  high  spirits,"  when  Johnson  "expa- 

tiated in   praise  of  Lichfield  and   its  inhabitants,  who,   he  said,  were   the   most 

sober,  decent  people  in   England,   were   the  genteelest  in   proportion   to   their 


104  ENGLAND,  I'/CTCKKSQUE  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


wealth,  and  spoke  the:  purest  English."  David  Garrick.went  to  school  to  Dr. 
Johnson  in  the  suburbs  of  Lichfield,  at  Edial  ;  Addison  lived  once  at  Lichfield  ; 
and  Selwyn  was  its  bishop  a  few  years  ago,  and  is  buried  in  the  Cathedral  close; 
but  the  chief  memories  of  the  ancient  town  cluster  around  St.  Chad,  Johnson, 
and  Garrick. 

LADY     GODIVA    OF    COVENTRY. 

The  "three  spires"  which  have  so  much  to  do  with  the  fame  of  Lichfield 
arc  reproduced  in  the  less  pretentious  but  equally  famous  town  of  Coventry, 
not  far  away  in  Warwickshire,  but  they  do  not  all  belong  to  the  same  church. 
The  Coventry  Cathedral  was  long  ago  swept  away,  but  the  town  still  has  three 
churches  of  much  interest,  and  is  rich  in  the  old  brick-and-timbered  architec- 
ture of  two  and  three  centuries  ago.  But  the  boast  of  Coventry  is  Lady 
(iodiva,  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Mercia,  who  died  in  1057.  The  townsfolk  suffered 
under  heavy  taxes  and  services,  and  she  besought  her  lord  to  relieve  them. 
After  steady  refusals  he  finally  consented,  but  under  a  condition  which  he  was 
sure  Lady  Godiva  would  not  accept,  which  was  none  other  than  that  she  should 
ritle  naked  from  one  end  of  the  town  to  the  other.  To  his  astonishment  she  con- 
sented, and,  as  Dugclale  informs  us,  "The  noble  lady  upon  an  appointed  day 
got  on  horseback  naked,  with  her  hair  loose,  so  that  it  covered  all  her  body 
but  the  legs,  and  then  performing  her  journey,  she  returned  with  joy  to  her 
husband,  who  thereupon  granted  the  inhabitants  a  charter  of  freedom."  The 
inhabitants  deserted  the  streets  and  barred  all  the  windows,  so  that  no  one 
could  see  her,  but,  as  there  are  exceptions  to  all  rules,  Tennyson  writes  that 

"  One  low  churl,  composed  of  thankless  earth, 
The  fatal  byword  of  all  years  to  come, 
Horing  a  little  auger-hole,  in  fear 
Peeped  ;  but  his  eyes,  before  they  had  their  will, 
Were  shrivelled  into  darkness  in  his  head, 
And   drop;  before  him.     So  the  Powers  who  wait 
On  noble  deeds  cancelled  a  sense  misused  ; 
And  she,  that  knew  not,  passed." 

Thus  has  "  Peeping  Tom  of  Coventry  "  passed  into  a  byword,  and  his  statue 
stands  in  a  niche  on  the  front  of  a  house  on  the  High  Street,  as  if  leaning  out 
of  a  window — an  ancient  and  battered  effigy  for  all  the  world  to  see.  Like  all 
other  things  that  come  down  to  us  by  tradition,  this  legend  is  doubted,  but  in 
Coventry  there  are  sincere  believers,  and  "  Lady  Godiva's  Procession  "  used  to 
be  an  annual  display,  closing  with  a  fair:  this  ceremony  was  opened  by  relig- 
ious services,  after  which  the  procession  started,  the  troops  and  city  authorities, 


COVENTRY. 


105 


with  music  and  banners,  escorting  Lady  Godiva,  a  woman  made  up  for  the  occa- 
sion in  gauzy  tights  and  riding  a  cream-colored  horse  ;  representatives  of  the 
trades  and  civic  societies  followed  her.  This  pageant  has  fallen  into  disuse. 
In  this  ancient  city  of  Coventry  there  are  some  interesting  memorials  of  the 
past — the  venerable  gateway,  the  old  St.  Mary's  Hall,  with  its  protruding  gable 
fronting  on  the  street,  coming  clown  to  us  from  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
many  other  quaint  brick  and  half-timbered 
and  strongly-constructed  houses  that  link 
the  dim  past  with  the  active  present.  Its 
three  spires  surmount  St.  Michael's,  Trin- 
ity, and  Christ  churches,  and  while  all  are 
fine,  the  first  is  the  best,  being  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  spires  in  Eng- 
land. The  ancient  stone  pulpit  of  Trinity 
Church,  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  bal- 
cony of  open  stone-work,  is  also  much 
admired.  St.  Michael's  Church,  which  dates 
from  the  fourteenth  century,  is  large  enough 
to  be  a  cathedral,  and  its  steeple  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  -  constructed.  This 
beautiful  and  remarkably  slender  spire 
rises  three  hundred  and  three  feet,  its 
lowest  stage  being  an  octagonal  lantern 
supported  by  flying  buttresses.  The  sup 
porting  tower  has  been  elaborately  cleco 
rated,  but  much  of  the  sculpture  has  iallen 
into  decay,  being  made  of  the  rich  but  friable  red  sandstone  of  this  part  of  the 
country  ;  the  interior  of  the  church  has  recently  been  restored.  The  Coven- 
try workhouse  is  located  in  an  old  monastery,  where  a  part  of  the  cloisters 
remain,  with  the  dormitory  above  ;  in  it  is  an  oriel  window  where  Queen  Kliz- 
abeth  on  visiting  the  town  is  reputed  to  have  stood  and  answered  a  reception 
address  in  rhyme  from  the  "  Men  of  Coventrie  "  with  some  doggerel  of  equal 
merit,  and  concluding  with  the  words,  "Good  Lord,  what  fools  ye  be!'  The 
good  Queen  Bess,  we  are  told,  liked  to  visit  Coventry  to  see  bull-baiting.  As 
we  have  said,  Coventry  formerly  had  a  cathedral  and  a  castle,  but  both  have 
been  swept  away  ;  it  was  an  important  stronghold  after  the  Norman  Conquest, 
when  the  Earls  of  Chester  were  lords  of  the  place.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
it  was  fortified  with  walls  of  great  height  and  thickness,  three  miles  in  circuit 
and  strengthened  by  thirty-two  towers,  each  of  the  twelve  gates  being  defended 


COVENTRY    GATKWAY. 


14 


106  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AXJ)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


COVENTRY. 


by  a  portcullis.  A  parliament  was  held 
at  Coventry  by  Henry  VI.,  and  Henry 
VII.  was  heartily  welcomed  there  after 
Bosworth  Field ;  while  the  town  was 
also  a  favorite  residence  of  Edward  the 
Black  Prince.  Among  the  many  places 
of  captivity  for  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
Coventry  also  figures  ;  the  walls  were 
mostly  knocked  down  during  the  Civil 
Wars,  and  now  only  some  fragments, 
with  one  of  the  old  gates,  remain.  In 
later  years  it  has  been  chiefly  cele- 
brated in  the  peaceful  ar^s  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  silks  and  ribbons  and  the 
dyeing  of  broad-cloth  in  "  Coventry 
true  blue  ;"  at  present  it  is  the  "  Cov- 
entry bicycle  "  that  makes  Lady  Godi- 
va's  ancient  city  famous,  and  provides 
amusement  for  youth  who  are  able  to 
balance  their  bodies  possibly  at  the 
expense  of  their  minds. 


P.KLVOIR    CASTLE. 

In  describing  the  ancient  baronial  mansion,  Haddon  Hall,  it  was  mentioned 
that  the  Dukes  of  Rutland  had  abandoned  it  as  their  residence  about  a  hundred 
years  ago  and  gone  to  Belvoir  in  Leicestershire.  Belvoir  (pronounced  Beever) 
Castle  stands  on  the  eastern  border  of  Leicestershire,  in  a  magnificent  situa- 
tion on  a  high  wooded  hill,  and  gets  its  name  from  the  beautiful  view  its  occu- 
pants enjoy  over  a  wide  expanse  of  country.  In  ancient  times  it  was  a  priory, 
and  it  has  been  a  castle  since  the  Norman  Conquest.  Many  of  the  large 
estates  attached  to  Belvoir  have  come  down  by  uninterrupted  succession  from 
that  time  to  the  present  Duke  of  Rutland.  The  castle  itself,  however,  after  the 
Conquest  belonged  to  the  Earl  of  Chester,  and  afterwards  to  the  family  of 
Lord  Ros.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  by  a  fortunate  marriage,  the  castle  passed 
into  the  Manners  family.  Thomas  Manners  was  created  by  Henry  VIII.  the 
iirst  Earl  of  Rutland,  and  he  restored  the  castle,  which  had  for  some  time  been 
in  ruins.  His  son  enlarged  it,  making  a  noble  residence.  The  sixth  Earl  of 
Rutland  had  two  sons,  we  are  told,  who  were  murdered  by  witchcraft  at  Bel- 
voir through  the  sorcery  of  three  female  servants  in  revenge  for  their  dismissal. 


ClIARXWOOD   FOREST.  IOJ 


The  three  "  witches  "  were  tried  and  committed  to  Lincoln  jail.  They  were  a 
mother  and  two  daughters,  and  the  mother  before  going  to  the  jail  wished  the 
bread  and  butter  she  ate  might  choke  her  if  guilty.  Sure  enough,  the  chronicler 
tells  us,  she  died  on  the  way  to  jail,  and  the  two  daughters,  afterwards  confess- 
ing their  guilt,  were  executed  March  11,  1618.  The  seventh  Earl  of  Rutland 
received  Charles  I.  at  Belvoir,  and  in  the  wars  that  followed  the  castle  was 
besieged  and  ruined.  After  the  Restoration  it  was  rebuilt,  and  in  finer  style. 
The  Dukes  of  Rutland  b_egan  to  adapt  it  more  and  more  as  a  family  residence, 
and,  after  abandoning  Haddon  Hall,  Belvoir  was  greatly  altered  and  made  a 
princely  mansion.  It  consists  of  a  quadrangular  court,  around  which  are  cas- 
tellated buildings,  with  towers  surmounting  them,  and  occupying  almost  the 
entire  summit  of  the  hill.  Here  the  duke  can  look  out  over  no  less  than 
twenty-two  of  his  manors  in  the  neighboring  valleys.  The  interior  is  sump- 
tuously furnished,  and  has  a  collection  of  valuable  paintings.  A  large  part  of 
the  ancient  castle  was  burnt  in  1816.  The  Staunton  Tower,  however,  still 
exists.  It  is  the  stronghold  of  the  castle,  and  was  successfully  defended  by  Lord 
Staunton  against  William  of  Normandy.  Upon  every  royal  visit  the  key  of 
this  tower  is  presented  to  the  sovereign,  the  last  occasion  being  a  visit  of 
Queen  Victoria.  Belvoir,  in  the  generous  hands  of  the  Dukes  of  Rutland,  still 
maintains  the  princely-  hospitality  of  the  "  King  of  the  Peak."  A  record  kept 
of  a  recent  period  of  thirteen  weeks,  from  Christmas  to  Easter,  shows  that  two 
thousand  persons  dined  at  the  cluke's  table,  two  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty-one  in  the  steward's  room,  and  eleven  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twelve  in  the  servants'  hall.  They  were  blessed  with  good  appetites  too,  for 
they  devoured  about  $7000  worth  of  provisions,  including  eight  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty-three  loaves  of  bread  and  twenty-two  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three  pounds  of  meat,  exclusive  of  game,  besides  drinking  two 
thousand  four  hundred  bottles  of  wine  and  seventy  hogsheads  of  ale.  Thus 
does  Belvoir  maintain  the  inheritance  of  hospitable  obligation  descended  from 
Haddon  Hall. 

CHARNVVOOD    FOREST. 

We  have  now  come  into  Leicestershire,  and  in  that  county,  north  of  Leicester 
City,  is  the  outcropping  of  the  earth's  rocky  backbone,  which  has  been  thrust 
up  into  high  wooded  hills  along  the  edge  of  the  valley  of  the  Soar  for  several 
miles,  and  is  known  as  Charnwood  Forest.  It  hardly  deserves  the  name  of  a 
forest,  however,  for  most  of  this  strange  rocky  region  is  bare  of  trees,  and 
many  of  the  patches  of  wood  that  are  there  are  of  recent  growth.  Yet  in 
ancient  years  there  was  plenty  of  wood,  and  a  tradition  comes  down  to  us  that 


loS 


ENGL.l.Vl\  PICTURESQUE  AND 


in  Charnwood  once  upon  a  time  a  squirrel  could  travel  six  miles  on  the  trees 
without  touching  the  ground,  and  a  traveller  journey  entirely  across  the 
forest  without  seeing  the  sun.  The  district  consists  of  two  lines  of  irregular 
ridgy  hills,  rising  three  hundred  to  four  hundred  feet  above  the  neighboring 
country.  These  ridges  are  separated  by  a  sort  of  valley  like  a  Norwegian  fjord, 
filled  with  red  marl.  The  rocks  are  generally  volcanic  products,  with  much 
slate,  which  is  extensively  quarried.  Granite  and  sienite  are  also  quarried, 
and  at  the  chief  granite-quarry— Mount  Sorrel,  an  eminence  which  projects 
into  the  valley  of  the:  Soar — was  in  former  times  the  castle  of  Hugh  Lupus, 
Earl  of  Chester.  In  King  John's  reign  the  garrison  of  this  castle  so  harassed 
the  neighborhood  that  it  was  described  as  the  "  nest  of  the  devil  and  a  den 
of  thieves."  In  Henry  III.'s  reign  it  was  captured  and  demolished  ;  the  latter 
fate  is  gradually  befalling  the  hill  on  which  it  stood,  under  the  operations  of  the 

quarry  men.  Near  these 
cjuarries  is  the  ancient 
village  of  Groby,  which 
was  quite  a  flourishing 
place  eight  hundred 
years  ago,  and  has  not 
grown  much  since.  This 
village  belonged  to  the 
Ferrars  family,  and  an 
heiress  of  that  family 
was  the  unfortunate 
Queen  Elizabeth  Wid- 

.•yijw  '.T^-ssyX"" "  »'W  "^j  •   L      "*•'•-      vile.      About   two   miles 

away  is  Bradgate,  a  spot 


RUINS    OF    r,K..\I>(;ATK    HOUSE. 


of  rare  beauty  and  in- 
terest, the  history  of  which  is  closely  connected  with  Groby.  On  the  end  of 
one  of  the  ridges  of  Charnwood,  just  where  it  is  sinking  down  to  the  level 
of  the  surrounding  country,  stands  Bradgate  House.  The  surrounding  park 
is  quite  wild  and  bare,  but  there  are  fine  old  oaks  in  the  lower  portions.  From 
the  ancient  house  a  beautiful  dell,  called  the  Happy  Valley,  leads  to  the  neigh- 
boring village  of  Newtown  Linford.  Bradgate  House  was  destroyed  in  the 
early  part  of  the  last  century  by  its  mistress.  The  Earl  of  Suffolk,  who  then 
owned  it,  brought  his  wife,  who  had  no  taste  for  a  rural  life,  from  the  metropo- 
lis to  live  there.  Her  sister  in  London  wrote  to  inquire  how  she  was  getting 
She  answered,  "The  house  is  tolerable,  the  country  a  forest,  and  .the 


on. 


inhabitants  all   brutes."     In   reply  the  sister  advised,  "  Set  the  house  on   fire, 


i-:uzAr>ETii  \rinrii.i-:  .\.\n  LADY  JAM-:  GREY. 


109 


and  run  away  by  the  light  of  it."     The  countess  took  the  advice,  and  Bradgate 
never  was  rel)uilt. 

ULVKKSCKOKT    AM)    C,  RACE    DIEU    ABBEY. 

Charnwood  Forest,  like  almost  every  other  place  in  England,  contains  the 
remains  of  religious  houses.  There  was  a  priory  at  Ulverscroft,  not  far  from 
Bradgate,  and  some  picturesque  moss-grown  remains  still  exist,  said  to  be  the 


Kl'INS    OK    1'I.VKKSl  KOKT    I'KIOKY. 


finest  ruin  in  Leicestershire.  Grace  Dieu  Abbey  was  also  in  the  forest,  and 
on  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  was  granted  to  the  Beaumonts ;  the  ruins 
of  this  abbey  were  much  frequented  by  Wordsworth,  who  dedicated  his  poems 
to  their  owner.  The  Cistercians  have  in  the  present  century  established  the 
monastery  of  Mont  St.  Bernard  in  the  forest,  and  brought  large  tracts  under 
cultivation  as  garden-land.  Bardon,  the  highest  hill  of  Charnwood,  which  is 
near  by,  rises  nine  hundred  feet,  an  obtuse-angled  triangular  summit  that  can 
be  seen  for  miles  away:  not  far  from  the  forest  are  several  famous  places. 
The  abandoned  castle  of  Ashby  de  la  Zouche  has  been  made  the  site  of  an 
interesting  town,  deriving  much  prosperity  from  its  neighboring  coal-mines: 
this  castle  was  built  by  Lord  Hastings,  and  here  dwelt  Ivanhoe.  The 
ruins  of  the  tower,  chapel,  and  great  hall  are  objects  of  much  interest,  and  in 
the  chapel  is  the  "finger  pillory"  for  the  punishment  of  those  who  were  dis- 
orderly in  church.  Staunton  Harold,  the  seat  of  Earl  Ferrars,  is  north  of  the 
town,  while  about  nine  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Ashby  is  Donington  Hall, 


I  10 


ENGLAX/),  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  palace  of  the  Marquis  of  Hastings :  this  estate  is  connected  with  Langley 
Priory,  three  miles  southward  ;  the  latter  domain  belonged  to  the  Cheslyns 
fifty  years  ago,  and  had  an  income  of  $40,000  a  year.  Between  lavish  hospi- 
tality and  ruinous  lawsuits  the  entire  property  was  eaten  up,  and  Richard  Ches- 
lyn  became  practically  a  pauper ;  but  he  bore  ill-fortune  with  good  grace,  and 
maintained  his  genial  character  to  the  last,  being  always  well  received  at  all 
the  noble  houses  where  he  formerly  visited.  Sir  Bernard  Burke  writes  that 

Cheslyn  "at  dinner- 

jft^  parties,     at     which 

every  portion  of  his 
dress  was  the  cast- 
off  clothes  of  his 
grander  friends,  al- 
ways looked  and 
was  the  gentleman ; 
he  made  no  secret 
of  his  poverty  or  of 
the  generous  hands 
that  had  '  rigged 
him  out.'  '  This 
coat,'  he  has  been 
heard  to  say,  'was 
Radcliffe's ;  these 

pants,  Granby's ;  this  waistcoat,  Scarborough's.'  His  cheerfulness  never  for- 
sook him  ;  he  was  the  victim  of  others'  mismanagement  and  profusion,  not 
of  his  own."  John  Shakespear,  the  famous  linguist,  whose  talents  were  dis- 
covered by  Lord  Moira,  who  had  him  educated,  was  a  cowherd  on  the  Langley 
estate.  The  poor  cowherd  afterwards  bought  the  estates  for  $700,000,  and 
they  were  his  home  through  life. 

ELIZABETH    WIDVILE    AND    LADY    JANE    GREY. 

Charnwood  Forest  is  also  associated  in  history  with  two  unfortunate  women. 
Elizabeth  Widvile  was  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Grey  of  Groby,  who  lost  his  life  and 
estate  in  serving  the  House  of  Lancaster,  leaving  Elizabeth  with  two  sons ;  for 
their  sake  she  sought  an  interview  with  King  Edward  IV.  to  ask  him  to  show 
them  favor.  Smitten  by  her  charms,  Edward  made  her  his  queen,  but  he  was 
soon  driven  into  exile  in  France,  and  afterwards  died,  while  her  father  and 
brother  perished  in  a  popular  tumult.  Her  daughter  married  King  Henry 
VII.,  a  jealous  son-in-law,  who  confined  Elizabeth  in  the  monastery  of  Ber- 


RUINS    OF    GRACE    DIEU    ABBEY. 


LEICESTER  ABBEY  AND    CASTLE. 


I  I  I 


_mondsey,  where  she  died.  Bradgate  passed  into  the  hands  of  her  elder  son 
by  Sir  John  Grey  of  Groby,  and  his  grandson  was  the  father  of  the  second 
queen  to  which  it  gave  birth,  whose  name  is  better  known  than  that  of  Eliz- 
abeth Widvile — the  unfortunate  "ten-days'  queen,"  Lady  Jane  Grey.  She  lived 
the  greater  part  of  her  short  life  at  Bradgate,  in  the  house  whose  ruins  still 
stand  to  preserve  her  memory.  We  are  told  by  the  quaint  historian  Fuller 
that  "  she  had  the  innocency  of  childhood,  the  beauty  of  youth,  the  solidity  of 
middle,  the  gravity  of  old  age,  and  all  at  eighteen — the  birth  of  a  princess, 
the  learning  of  a  clerk,  the  life  of  a  saint,  and  the  death  of  a  malefactor  for 
her  parents'  offences."  These  parents  worried  her  into  accepting  the  crown — 
they  played  for  high  stakes  and  lost — and  her  father  and  father-in-law,  her  hus- 
band and  herself,  all  perished  on  the  scaffold.  We  are  told  that  this  unfortu- 
nate lady  still  haunts  Bradgate  House,  and  on  the  last  night  of  the  dying  year 
a  phantom  carriage,  drawn  by  four  gray  horses,  glides  around  the  ruins  with 
her  headless  body.  The  old  oaks  have  a  gnarled  and  stunted  appearance,  tra- 
dition ascribing  it  to  the  woodsmen  having  lopped  off  all  the  leading  shoots 
when  their  mistress  perished.  The  remains  of  the  house  at  present  are  princi- 
pally the  broken  shells  of  two  towers,  with  portions  of  the  enclosing  walls,  partly 
covered  with  ivy. 

LEICESTER  ABBEY  AND  CASTLE. 

The  city  of  Leicester,  which  is  now  chiefly  noted  for  the  manufacture  of 
hosiery,  was.  founded  p^ 
by  the  Britons,  and 
was  subsequently  the 
Roman  city  of  Ratae. 
Many  Roman  remains 
still  exist  here,  notably 
the  ancient  Jewry  wall, 
which  is  seventy-five 
feet  long  and  five  feet 
high,  and  which  formed 
part  of  the  town-wall. 
Many  old  houses  are 
found  in  Leicester,  and 
just  north  of  the  city 
are  the  ruins  of  Lei- 
cester Abbey.  This 
noted  religious  house 
was  founded  in  the 


LEICESTER    ABBEY. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


1  12 

,elfth      -ntury    and  stood  on   a  meadow  watered  by  the  river  Soar.      It  was 
M y  endo wed,'  and  was  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  its  chief  fame  comes 
torn  its  beimr  the  last  residence  of  Cardinal  Wolsey.     'I  his  great  man  once  the 
fSgkna,  has  had  his  downfall  pathetically  described  by  Shakespeare, 
summoned  him  to  London  to  stand  trial  for  treason,  and  on  h,s  way 
became  so  ill  that  he  was  obliged  to  rest  at  Leicester  where  he  was 
at  the  abbey-gate  by  the  abbot  and  entire  convent.    Aware  of  his  approach- 
ch  sldon \e  fallen  cardinal  said,  -  Father  abbot,    I  have  come  hither  to 

The  next  day  he  died,  and  to  the  surrounding 

±E  asTl  sT^r^nt  wl  administered,  he  said,  "If  I  had  served  God 

diligently  as  I  have  done  the  king,  He  would  not  have  given  me  over  in  my 

The  remains  were  interred  by  torchlight  before  daybreak  on  St. 

An drew's  Day   1530,  and  to  show  the  vanity  of  all  things  earthly  tradition  says 

Tr  the destruction  of    the  abbey  the  stone  coffin  in  wh.ch  they  were 

ed  was  used  as  a  horse-trough  for  a  neighboring  inn.     Nothing  remains 

of  the  abbey  as  Wolsey  saw  it  excepting 
t  the  gate  in  the  east  wall   through  which 

he  entered.  The  present  ruins  are  frag- 
ments of  a  house  built  afterwards.  The 
foundations  that  can  still  be  traced  show 
that  it  was  a  grand  old  building.  The 
gardens  and  park  now  raise  vegetables 
for  the  Leicester  market. 

Leicester   Castle   still   exists   only   in  a 
portion  of  the  great  hall,  but  it  has  been 
enlarged    and    modernized,    and    is    now 
used  for  the  county  offices.      The  castle 
was  built  after  the  Norman  Conquest  to 
keep  the  townspeople   in   check.      It  was 
afterwards    a    stronghold    of    Simon    de 
Montfort,  Earl  of   Leicester,  and  it  then 
became  part  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster. 
The  Dukes  of  Lancaster  restored   it,  and 

GATBWAl    «„„„.-  .- lived  there  frequently  in  great  pomp,  and 

they  also  built  the  adjoining  Hospital  of  the  Newarke  and  a  singular  earth 
work  alongside,  called  the  Mount.     Several  parliaments  were  held  here,  but 
aftlr  the  time  of  Edward  IV.  the  castle  fell  into  decay.     Ihere  are  now  few 
remain    o    the  original  castle,  excepting  part  of  the  great  hall  and  the  Moun 
or  earthwork  of  the  keep,  which  is  about  thirty  feet  high  and  one  hundred  feet 


GATEWAY,    NENVCJATK    STKKK 1,    I,K ICKSTF.K. 


THE  EDGEHILL    BATTLEFIELD. 


in  diameter  upon  its  flat,  circular  top.  Not  far  from  Leicester  was  fought  the 
last  great  battle  of  the  "  Wars  of  the  Roses,"  Bosworth  Field,  upon  Redmoor 
Plain,  about  two  miles  from  the  village  now  known  as  Market  Bosworth.  It 
was  a  moor  at  the  time  of  the  battle  in  1485,  overgrown  with  thistles  and 
scutch-grass.  Shakespeare  has  been  the  most  popular  historian  of  this  battle, 
and  the  well  where  Richard  slaked  his  thirst  is  still  pointed  out,  with  other 
localities  of  the  scenes  of  the  famous  contest  that  decided  the  kingship  of 
England,  Richard  III.  giving  place  to  Richmond,  who  became  Henry  YII. 

• 

THE    EUGEHILL    BATTLEFIELD. 

"While  we  are  considering  this  locality  two  other  famous  battlefields  not  far 
away,  that  together  were  decisive  of  the  fate  of  England,  must  not  be  over- 
looked. These  were  Edgehill  and 
Xaseby,  the  opening  and  closing 
contests  of  the  Civil  War  that 
overthrew  Charles  I.,  the  scene 


of  one  being  visible  from  the  other,  though 
the  intervening  contest  spread  almost  all  over 
the  island.  The  high  ground  that  borders 
Warwickshire  and  Northamptonshire  has 
various  roads  crossing  it,  and  the  opposing 
forces  meeting  on  these  highlands  made  them 
the  scenes  of  the  battles — practical  repetitions  of  many  hot  contests  there  in 
earlier  years.  The  command  of  the  Parliamentary  army  had  been  given  to 
the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  he  and  all  his  officers  were  proclaimed  traitors  by  the 


'4  ___  ENGLAND  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


Sa  IT"'8,  rC'ay  v  aSSemWa«e'  a  «a'e  ar°"  a""  !'  ~  "own  d°"n 


marches,  but  Charles  turned  his  (lank  and  started  for  London  with 

aop  of  horse,  and  was  knighted  on   the  field  of  Echrehill 
Carles  slept  in  the  old  house  at  Edgecot  :  the  house  has  been  superseded  bv 


=-  -ss  s 

ordered  the  march  to  Edgehill,  a  magnificent  situation  for  an  army  to  occ  1  for 
eC0Untr  "  *" 


oCendand 

t  a    England.     Essex's  camp-fires  on  that  plain  the  previous  night  had 

jetrayed  his  army  to  Prince  Rupert,  while  Rupert's  horsemen,  appearing  up 
he  brow  of  the  hdl,  told  Essex  next  morning  that  the  king  was  a  'hand    ^ 
1  is  a  long  ridge  extending  almost  north  and  south,  with  another  ridge  Put- 
ting out  at  nght  angles  into  the  plain  in  front:  thus  the  Parliamentary  fZ,s 
were  on  low  ground,  bounded  in  front  and  on  their  left  by  steep  hills      On  the 
southern  side  of  Edgehill  there  had  been  cut  out  o^  the'red  iron-stained  ro  k 
of  a  projectmg  chff  a  huge  red  horse,  as  a  memorial  of  the  great  Earl  of  War 
w,ck,  who  before  a  previous  battle  had  killed  his  horse  and  vowed  to  share  d, 
penis  of  the  meanest  of  his  soldiers.     Both  sides  determined  to  give  battl  " 
Purifcm  ministers  passed  along  the  ranks  exhorting  the  men  to  do  their 
duty  and  they  afterwards   referred  to  the  figure  as  the  "Red  Horse  of  the 
wrath  of  the   Lord  which  did   ride  about  furiously  to  the  ruin  of  the  enemy  » 
Hsposed  h.s  army  along  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  could  overlook  his 


THE   EDGElfll.I.    r.ATTU-.FIEI.D. 


foes,  stretched  out  on  the  plain,  as  if  on  a  map,  with  the  village  of  Kineton 
behind  them.  Essex  had  twelve  thousand  men  on  a  little  piece  of  rising 
ground  known  afterwards  as  the  "Two  Battle  Farms,"  Battledon  and  Thistle- 
don.  The  king  was  superior  both  in  numbers  and  position,  with  Prince  Rupert 
and  his  cavalry  on  the  right  wing;  Sir  Edmund  Verney  bore  the  king's  stand- 
ard in  the  centre,  where  his  tent  was  pitched,  and  Lord  Lindsey  commanded ; 
under  him  was  General  Sir  Jacob  Astley,  whose  prayer  before  the  battle  is 
famous :  "  O  Lord,  thou 
knowest  how  busy  I  must 
be  this  day ;  if  I  forget  thee, 
do  not  thou  forget  me.— 
March  on,  boys !"  The 
king  rode  along  in  front 
of  his  troops  in  the  stately 
figure  that  is  familiar  in 
Vandyke's  paintings — full 
armor,  with  the  ribbon  of  MILL  AT  EDOF.HILL. 

the  Garter  across  his  breastplate  and  its  star  on  his  black  velvet  mantle — and 
made  a  brief  speech  of  exhortation.  The  young  princes  Charles  and  James, 
his  sons,  both  of  them  afterwards  kings  of  England,  were  present  at  Edge- 
hill,  while  the  philosopher  Hervey,  who  discovered  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
was  also  in  attendance,  and  we  are  told  was  found  in  the  heat  of  the  battle 
sitting  snugly  under  a  hedge  reading  a  copy  oi  Virgil. 

The  battle  did  not  begin  till  afternoon,  and  the  mistake  the  king  made  was 
in  not  waiting  for  the  attack  in  his  strong  position  on  the  brow  of  the  hill ;  but 
his  men  were  impatient  and  in  high  spirits,  and  he  permitted  them  to  push  for- 
ward, meeting  the  attack  halfway.  Rupert's  cavalry  upon  encountering  the 
Parliamentary  left  wing  were  aided  by  the  desertion  of  part  of  the  latter's 
forces,  which  threw  them  into  confusion  ;  the  wing  broke  and  fled  before  the 
troopers,  who  drove  them  with  great  slaughter  into  the  village  of  Kineton,  and 
then  fell  to  plundering  Essex's  baggage-train.  This  caused  a  delay  which  en- 
abled the  Parliamentary  reserves  to  come  up,  and  they  drove  Rupert  back  in 
confusion  ;  and  when  he  reached  the  royal  lines  he  found  them  in  disorder,  with 
Sir  Edmund  Verney  killed  and  the  royal  standard  captured,  Lord  Lindsey 
wounded  and  captured,  and  the  king  in  personal  danger;  but  darkness  came, 
and  enabled  the  king  to  hold  his  ground,  and  each  side  claimed  a  victory.  The 
royal  standard  was  brought  back  by  a  courageous  Cavalier,  who  put  on  a  Par- 
liamentary orange-colored  scarf,  rode  into  the  enemy's  lines,  and  persuaded  the 
man  who  had  it  to  let  him  carry  it.  For  this  bold  act  he  was  knighted  by  the 


n6 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


king  on  the  spot  and  given  a  gold  medal.     There  were  about  fourteen  hundred 
m  the  battle,  and  butiecl  between  the  two  farm-houses  of  Battledon  and 
Ih.stledon,  at  a  place  now  called  the  Graveyards.     Lord  Lindsey  died  on  his 
way  to  Warwick  with  his  captors.     Cromwell  was  not  personally  engaged  at 
Ugehill  although  there  as  a  captain  of  cavalry.     Carlyle  says  that  after  watch- 
1  the  fight  he  told  Hampden  they  never  would  get  on  with  a  "  set  of  poor 
ters  and  town-apprentice  people  fighting  against  men  of  honor;  to  cope 
en  of  honor  they  must  have  men  of  religion."     Hampden  answered   "It 
was  a  good  notion  if  it  could  be  executed;"  and  Cromwell  "set  about  exe- 
cuting a  bit  of  it,  his  share  of  it,   by  and   by." 

THE    BATTLE   OF    NASEBY. 

The  last  great  contest  of  the  Civil  War,  at  which  the  fate  of  Kino-  Charles 
was  really  decided,  was  fought  nearly  three  years  afterwards,  June&i4    i64S 
but  a  few  miles   north-east  of  Edgehill,  at  Naseby,  standing  on  a  high 
plateau   elevated  nearly  seven    hundred   feet.     The  Parliamentary  forces  had 
during  the  interval  become  by  far  the  stronger,  and  were  engaged  in  besieging 
tester.     The  king  and  Prince  Rupert  in   May  left  Oxford  with  their  forces 
i  marched  northward,  hoping  to  raise  this  siege.     The  king  had  gone  as  far 
north  as  Leicester,  when,  hearing  that  Lord  Fairfax  had  come  from  the  borders 
Wales  and  besieged  Oxford,  he  turned  about  to  relieve  it.     His  army  was 
out  ten   thousand  strong,  and,  having   reached   Daventry    in   June,  halted 
Fairfax,  leaving  Oxford,  marched  northward  to  meet  the  king  beincx  five 
tiles  east  of  him  on  June  1 2.    Being  weaker  than  Fairfax,  the  king  determined 
retreat,  and  the  movement  was  started  towards  Market  Harborough   just 
north  of  Naseby.     The  king,  a  local  tradition  says,  while  sleeping  at  Daventry 
was  warned,  by  the  apparition  of  Lord  Strafford  in  a  dream,  not  to  measure 
his  strength  with  the  Parliamentary  army.    A  second  night  the  apparition  came 
assuring  him  that  "if  he  kept  his  resolution  of  fighting  he  was  undone;"  and  it 
led  that  the  king  was  often  afterwards  heard  to  say  he  wished  he  had 
taken  the  warning  and  not  fought  at  Naseby.     Fairfax,  however,  was  resolved 
force  a  battle,  and  pursued  the  king's  retreating  army.     On  June  i3th  he 
Harrison  and   Ireton   with  cavalry  to    attack  its   rear.      That  nio-ht   the 
king's  van  and  main   body  were  at  Market  Harborough,  and  his  rear-guard 
of  horse  at  Naseby,  three  miles  southward.     Ireton  about  midnight  surprised 
and  captured  most  of  the  rear-guard,  but  a  few,  escaping,  reached  the  king 
and  roused  him  at  two  in  the  morning.     Fairfax  was  coming  up,  and  reached 
Naseby  at   five   in   the   morning.       The   king  held   a   council    of   war  in   the 
Head  Inn  "  at  Market  Harborough,  and  determined  to  face  about  and 


THE  J1A  TTLE   OF  KASEB  Y. 


117 


give  battle.  The  forces  met  on  Broad  Moor,  just  north  of  Naseby  village. 
Prince  Rupert  had  command  of  the  royal  troops,  and  Sir  Jacob  Astley  was 
in  command  of  the  infantry.  The  king  rode  along  the  lines,  inspiriting  the 

men  with  a  speech,  to  which  they  gave  a  response  of 
ringing  cheers.  Cromwell  commanded  the  right  wing 
of  Fairfax's  line,  while  Ireton  led  the  left,  which  was 
opposed  by  Rupert's  cavalry.  The  advance  was  made 
by  Fairfax,  and  the  sequel  proved  that  the  Parliamentary 
forces  had  improved  their  tactics.  Rupert's  troopers,  as 
usual,  broke  down  the  wing  opposing  them,  and  then 
went  to  plundering  the  baggage-wagons  in  the  rear. 
But  fortune  inclined  the  other  way  elsewhere.  Crom- 
well on  the  right  routed  the  royal  left  wing,  and  after 
an  hour's  hot  struggle  the  royal  centre  was  completely 

broken  up.    Fairfax  cap- 

—  ~^_     _  —  -  .  L 

tured  the  royal  standard, 
and  the  king  with  his  re- 
serve of  horse  made  a 
gallant  attempt  to  re- 
cover the  day.  But  it 
was  of  no  use.  Fairfax 
formed  a  second  line  of 
battle,  and  the  king's 
wiser  friends,  seizing  his 
horse's  bridle,  turned  him 
about,  telling  him  his 
charge  would  lead  to  cer- 
tain destruction.  Then 
a  panic  came,  and  the 

CHURCH    AND    MARKET-HALL,    MARKKT    HAKBOROUGH.  whole     bod\'   of 


fled,  with  Fairfax's  cavalry  in  pursuit.  Cromwell  and  his  "Ironsides"  chased 
the  fugitives  almost  to  Leicester,  and  many  were  slaughtered.  The  king  never 
halted  till  he  got  to  Ashby  de  la  Zouche,  twenty-eight  miles  from  the  battle- 
field, and  he  then  went  on  to  Lichfield.  There  were  one  thousand  Royalists 
killed  and  four  thousand  five  hundred  captured,  with  almost  all  the  baggage, 
among  it  being  the  king's  correspondence,  which  by  disclosing  his  plans  did 
almost  equal  harm  with  the  defeat.  The  prisoners  were  sent  to  London.  A 
monument  has  since  been  erected  on  the  battlefield,  with  an  inscription  describ- 
ing the  contest  as  "a  useful  lesson  to  British  kings  never  to  exceed  the  bounds 


u8 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


of  their  just  prerogative  ;  and  to  British  subjects,  never  to  swerve  from  the 
allegiance  due  to  their  legitimate  monarch."  This  is  certainly  an  oracular 
utterance,  and  of  its  injunctions  the  reader  can  take  his  choice. 

THE    LAND    OF    SHAKESPEARE. 

Close  to  the  village  of  Naseby  rises  the  Avon,  some  of  its  springs  being 
actually  within  the  village,  where  their  waters  are  caught  in  little  ponds  for 
watering  cattle.  The  slender  stream  of  Shakespeare's  river  flows  downward 
from  the  plateau  through  green  meadows,  and  thence  to  the  classic  ground 
of  Stratford  and  of  Warwick.  It  was  at  Stratford-on-Avon  that  Shakespeare 
was  born  and  died  ; 

"  Here  his  first  infant  lays  sweet  Shakespeare  sung, 
Here  the  last  accents  faltered  on  his  tongue." 

The  old  house  where  he  was  born  is  on  the  main  street  of  the  town,  and  has 

been    taken    posses- 
sion   of   by  a   Trust 
which  has  restored  it 
to  its  oiiginal  condi- 
tion.     Its    walls    are 
covered  with    the 
initials     of     visitors ; 
there    is    nothing    to 
be  seen  in  the  house 
that  has  any  proved 
connection     with 
Shakespeare  except- 
ing his  portrait,  paint- 
ed when  he  was  about 
forty-five    years   old. 
The    sign    of    the 
butcher  who  had  the 
building    before    the 
Trust    bought    it    is 
also     exhibited,    and 

states  that  "The  immortal  Shakespeare  was  born  in  this  house."  His  birth 
took  place  in  this  ancient  but  carefully  preserved  building  on  April  23,  1564, 
and  exactly  fifty-two  years  later,  on  April  23,  1616,  he  died  in  another 'house 
near  by,  known  as  the  "New  Place,"  on  Chapel  Street.  Excepting  the  garden 
and  a  portion  of  the  ancient  foundations  nothing  now  remains  of  the^house 


SHAKESPEARE'S  HOUSE. 


THE  L.l.\7)    Ol'  SHAKESPEARE. 


119 


where  Shakespeare  died ;   a  green  arbor  in  the  yard,  with  the  initials  of  his 
name  set  in   the  front  fence,  being  all  that  marks  the   spot.     Adjoining  the 
remnants  of  this  "  New  Place"  is  the  "Nash  House,"  where  the  curator  repre- 
senting the  Shakespeare  Trust  has  his  home.     This  building  is  also  indirectly 
connected  with  Shakespeare,  having  belonged  to  and  been  occupied  by  Thomas 
Nash,  who  married  Elizabeth  Hall,  the  poet's  granddaughter,  who  subsequently 
became  Lady  Barnard.     The  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Stratford  contains 
Shakespeare's  grave;  five  flat  stones  lying  in  a  row  across  the  narrow  chancel 
cover  his  family,  the  grave  of  Anne  Hathaway,  his  wife,  being  next  to  that  of 
the  poet ;   his  monument  is  on  the  wall,  and  near  it  is  the  American  memorial 
window,  representing  the  Seven  Ages  of  Man.     In  the  chancel  upon  the  west- 
ern   side,   within    a 
Grecian  niche,  is  the 
well-known     half- 
figure  monument  of 
Shakespeare  that 
has  been   so  widely 
copied,  represent- 
ing him  in   the   act 
of     composition. 
The  most  imposing 
building  in  Strat- 
ford is  the  "  Shake- 
speare    Memorial," 
a  large   and  highly 
ornamental    struc- 
ture, thoroughly  emblematic,  and  containing  a  theatre.     Stratford  is  full  of  relics 
of  Shakespeare  and  statues  and  portraits  in  his  memory.     There  is  a  life-size 
statue  of  the  poet  outside  the  Town-Hall  which  was  presented  to   the  city  by 
Garrick  in  the  last  century,  while  within  the  building  is  his  full-length  portrait, 
also  a  present  from  Garrick,  together  with  Gainsborough's  portrait  of  Garrick 
himself.     At  the  modest  hamlet  of  Shottery,  about  a  mile  out  of  town,  is  the 
little  cottage  where  Anne  Hathaway  lived,  and  where  the  poet  is  said  to  have 
"won  her  to  his  love;"  a  curious  bedstead  and  other  relics  are  shown  at  the 
cottage.     Charlecote  House,  the  scene  of  Shakespeare's  youthful  deer-stealing 
adventure  that  compelled  him  to  go  to  London,  is  about  four  miles  east  of 
Stratford,  near  the  Avon  :  it  is  an  ancient  mansion  of  the  Elizabethan  period. 
In  the  neighborhood  are  also  a  mineral  spring  known  as  the  Royal  Victoria 
Spa  and  some  ancient  British  intrenchments  called  the  Dingles. 


ANNE    HATHAWAY  S    COTTAGE. 


120 


ENGL,iND,  /'ICTr'KKSQL'K  AXI)   DF.SC 


\\  A  R  \V  I  C  K  . 

The  renowned  castle  of  Warwick  is  upon  the  Avon,  a  short  distance  above 
Stratford.  Warwick  was  founded  by  the  Britons  at  a  very  early  period,  and  is 
believed  to  be  as  old  in  some  parts  as  the  Christian  era;  it  was  afterwards  held 
as  a  Christian  stronghold  against  the  Danes.  Lady  Ethelfleda,  daughter  of 
King  Alfred,  built  the  donjon-keep  upon  an  artificial  mound  of  earth  that  can 
still  be  traced  in  the  castle  grounds.  The  most  ancient  part  of  the  present 

castle  was  erected  in 
the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Confessor,  and  in 
William    the    Con- 
queror's   time   it   re- 
ceived    considerable 
additions,  and  he  cre- 
ated the  first  Earl  of 
Warwick.     It  was  a 
great    stronghold    in 
the  subsequent  wars, 
and      an      heiress 
brought  the  castle  to 
Richard  Neville,  who 
assumed  the  title  in 
right  of  his  wife,  and 
was  the  famous  War- 
wick,    "the    King- 
maker."   After  many 
changes    it    came   to 
the  Grevilles.who  are 
now    the     Earls    of 
Warwick.     This  castle  is  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  the  feudal  stronghold 
remaining  in  England,  and  occupies  a  lovely  position  on   the  river-bank,  being 
built  on  a  rock  about  forty  feet  high  ;  its  modern  apartments  contain  a  rich 
museum  filled  with  almost  priceless  relics  of  the  olden   time.     Here  are  also 
valuable  paintings  and  other  works  of  art,  among  them  Vandyck's  portrait  of 
Charles  I.  and  many  masterpieces  of   Rembrandt,  Paul  Veronese,  Leonardo 
da  Vinci,  Rubens,  Holbein,  and  Salvator  Rosa.     In  December,  1871,  the  great 
hall  and  suite  of  private  apartments  at  Warwick  were  burnt,  but  the  valuable 
contents  were  almost  all  saved  with  little  injury.     The  castle  was   restored  by 


WARWICK    CASTLE. 


a  public  subscription.     It  is  built  around  a  large  oval-shaped  court ;  the  gate- 
house  tower  is   flanked  by  embattled  walls   covered  with  ivy,  and  having  at 
either  extremity  Caesar's  Tower  and  Guy's  Tower;  the  inner  court  is  bounded 
by  ramparts  and  turrets,  and  has  on  one  side  an  artificial  mound  surmounted  by 
an  ancient  tower.     From  the  modernized  rooms  of  the  castle,  where  the  family 
live  and  the  museum  is  located,  and  which  extend  in  a  suite  for  three  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  all  the  windows  look  out  upon  beautiful  views  ;  many  of  these 
rooms  are  hung  with  tapestry.    Caesar's  Tower,  believed  to  be  the  most  ancient 
part  of  the  castle  and  as  old  as  the  Norman  Conquest,  is  one  hundred  and 
seventy-four  feet  high;  Guy's  Tower,  which  was  built  in  1394,  has  solid  walls 
ten  feet  thick  and  is   one   hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  high,  disclosing  fine 
views  from  the  turrets.    The  grounds  are  extensive,  and  the  magnificent  marble 
"Warwick  Vase,"  brought  from  the  Emperor  Adrian's  villa  at  Tivoli  in  Italy,  is 
kept  in  a  special  greenhouse,  being  one  of  the  most  completely  perfect  and 
beautiful  specimens  of  ancient  sculpture  known.     St.  Mary's  Church  at  War- 
wick is  a  fine  building,  which  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  replaced  the 
original  collegiate  church  of  St.  Mary,  an  edifice  that  had  unfortunately  been 
burnt.     Thomas  Beauchamp,  one  of  the   earlier  Earls  of  Warwick,  was   the 
founder  of   this   church,  and  his   monument  with   recumbent   effigy  is   in   the 
middle  of  the  choir.     The  Beauchamp  Chapel,  over  four  hundred  years  old,  is 
a  beautiful  relic  of  the  original  church  still  remaining,  and  stands  on  the  south- 
ern side  of  the  new  building.     The  whole  of  this  portion  of  Warwickshire  is 
underlaid  by  medicinal  waters,  and  the  baths  of  Leamington  are  in  the  valley 
of  the  little  river  Leam,  a  short  distance  north-east  of  the  castle,  its  Jephson 
Gardens,  a  lovely  park,  commemorating  one  of  the  most  benevolent  patrons. 
Warwick    Castle,   like    all    the    others,   has    its    romance,   and   this    centres 
in    the   famous   giant,  Guy  of  Warwick,  who   lived   nearly   a   thousand  years 
ago,  and  was   nine   feet  high.      His   staff  and  club  and   sword  and  armor  are 
exhibited    in    a    room    adjoining    Caesar's    Tower;     and    here    also    is    Guy's 
famous  porridge-pot,   a   huge   bronze   caldron    holding    over    a    hundred    gal- 
lons, which    is  used   as  a  punch-bowl   whenever  there   are    rejoicings   in    the 
castle.     There   is   nothing  fabulous  about   the  arms   or   the  porridge-pot,  but 
there   is   a   good   deal   that   is  doubtful  about  the  giant  Guy  himself  and  the 
huge  dun  cow  that  once  upon  a  time  he  slew,  one  of  whose  ribs,  measuring 
over  six  feet  long,  is  shown  at  Guy's  Cliff.     This  cliff  is  where  the  redoubt- 
able Guy  retired  as  a  hermit  after  championing  the  cause  of  England  in  single 
combat  against  a  giant  champion  of  the  Danes,  and  is  about  a  mile  from  War- 
wick.     It  is  a  picturesque  spot,  and  a  chantry  has  been  founded  there,  while 
ior  many  years  a  rude  statue  of  the  giant  Guy  stood  on  the  cliff,  where  the 


122 


ENGLAND,  riCTrRESOUE  A.\!>    DESfR  II'TITE. 


'   - 

• 

I.KICESTKU'S    HOSPITAL,    WARWICK. 

some  fine  antique  carvings.  The  old  "Malt- 
Shovel  Inn  "  is  a  rather  decayed  structure 
in  Warwick,  with  its  ancient  porch  protrud- 
ing over  the  street,  while  some  of  the  build- 
ings, deranged  in  the  lower  stories  by  the 
acute  angles  at  which  the  streets  cross,  have 
oblique  gables  above  stairs  that  enabled 
the  builders  to  construct  the  upper  rooms 
square.  This  is  a  style  of  construction 
peculiar  to  Warwick,  and  adds  to  the 
oddity  of  this  somnolent  old  town,  that 
seems  to  have  been  practically  asleep  for 
centuries. 


chisel    had    cut    it    out    of   the 
solid  rock.    The  town  of  War- 
wick is  full  of  old  gabled  houses 
and  of  curious  relics  of  the  time 
of  the   "King-maker"  and  of 
the  famous  Earl   of  Leicester, 
who  in  Elizabeth's  time  founded 
there    the    Leicester    Hospital, 
where    especial    preference    is 
given  to  pensioners  who  have 
been  wounded  in  the  wars.     It 
is    a    fine    old    house,    with    its 
chapel,     which     has    been     re- 
stored nearly  in  the  old   form, 
si  retching    over    the    pathway, 
and   a   flight    of  steps   leading 
up   to   the   promenade   around 
it.    The  hospital  buildings  are 
constructed    around    an    open 
quadrangle,  and  upon  the  quaint 
black   and   white    buildino-    are 


OBI.IQUK    CAULKS    IN    WAKU'K  K. 


KENILWORTH. 

About  five  miles   from  Warwick  are  the   ruins  of   Kenilworth   Castle,   the 
magnificent  home   of   the  Earl   of  Leicester,  which    Scott    has    immortalized 
Geoffrey   de    Clinton    in    the    reign    of   Henry   I.    built    a    strong    castle    and 


KENILWORTH. 


12 


founded  a  monastery  here.  It  was  afterwards  the  castle  of  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort,  and  his  son  was  besieged  in  it  for  several  months,  ultimately  surrendering, 
when  the  king  bestowed  it  on  his  youngest  son,  Edward,  Earl  of  Lancaster 
and  Leicester.  Edward  II.,  when  taken  prisoner  in  Wales,  was  brought  to 
Kenilworth,  and  signed  his  abdication  in  the  castle,  being  afterwards  murdered 
in  Berkeley  Castle.  Then  it  came  to  John  of  Gaunt,  and  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses  was  alternately  held  by  the  partisans  of  each  side.  Finally,  Queen 
Elizabeth  bestowed  it  upon  her  ambitious  favorite,  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
who  made  splendid  additions  to  the  buildings.  It  was  here  that  Leicester  gave 
the  magnificent  entertainment  to  Oueen  Elizabeth  which  was  a  series  of 


KENILWORTH    CASTLE. 


pageants  lasting  seventeen  days,  and  cost  $5000  a  clay — a  very  large  sum  for 
those  times.  The  queen  was  attended  by  thirty-one  barons  and  a  host  of 
retainers,  and  four  hundred  servants,  who  were  all  lodged  in  the  fortress.  The 
attendants  were  clothed  in  velvet,  and  the  party  drank  sixteen  hogsheads  of 
wine  and  forty  hogsheads  of  beer  every  day,  while  to  feed  them  ten  oxen  were 
killed  every  morning.  There  was  a  succession  of  plays  and  amusements  pro- 
vided, including  the  Coventry  play  of  "Hock  Tuesday"  and  the  "Country 
Bridal,"  with  bull-  and  bear-baiting,  of  which  the  queen  was  very  fond.  Scott 
has  given  a  gorgeous  description  of  these  fetes  and  of  the  great  castle,  and 
upon  these  and  the  tragic  fate  of  Amy  Robsart  has  founded  his  romance  of 
Kenilworth.  The  display  and  hospitality  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  were  intended 


I24 


E.\GLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


to  pave  the  way  to  marriage,  but  the  wily  queen  was  not  to  be  thus  entrapped 
The  castle  is  now  part  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon's  estate,  and  he  has  taken 
great  pains  to  preserve  the  famous  ruins.     The  great  hall,  ninety  feet  long, 
retains  several  of  its  Gothic  windows,  and  some  of  the  towers  rise  seventy 
These  ivy-mantled  ruins  stand  upon  an  elevated  rocky  site  com- 
manding a  fine  prospect,  and  their  chief  present  use  is  as  a  picnic-ground  for 
Not  far  away  are  the  ruins  of  the  priory,  which  was  founded  at  the 
same  time  as  the  castle.     A  dismantled  gate-house  with  some  rather  extensive 
foundations  are  all  that  remain.     In  a  little  church  near  by  the  matins  and  the 
curfew  are  still  tolled,  one  of  the  bells  used  having  belonged  to  the  priory 
Few  English  ruins  have  more  romance     ,    attached  to    them    than   those    of 
Kemlworth,  for  the  graphic  pen  of  the     [     best  story-teller  of  Britain  has  in- 
terwoven them   into    one    of  his   best      I       romances,  and  has  thus  given  an 
idea  of  the  splendors  as  well  as  the       I       dark   deeds   of   the  Elizabethan 
era    that    will    exist    as   long    as   the        f  j^         language  endures. 


'-  r 


ST.  MARTIN'S  CHURCH,  BIRMINGHAM. 


BIRMINGHAM. 


Thus  far  we  have  mainly  written  of  the  rural  and  historical  attractions  of 
Warwickshire,  but  its  great  city  must  not  be  passed  by  without  notice.  The 
"  Homestead  of  the  Sons  of  Beorm  "  the  Saxon,  while  rising  from  smalf  begin* 


1!]RMI\C,I!A.\T. 


12- 


nings,  has  had  a  prodigiously  rapid  growth  since  the  coal,  iron,  and  railways 
have  so  greatly  swollen  the  wealth  and  population  of  manufacturing  England. 
It  was  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest  the  manor  of  Bermingeham,  or,  as  the  Mid- 
land English  prefer  to  pronounce  it,  "  Brummagem."  It  was  held  tor  many 
years  by  a  family  of  the  same  name,  and  had  an  uneventful  history  till  the 
townsfolk  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  Parliament  in  the  Civil  War,  in 
revenge  for  which  Prince  Rupert  captured  and  pillaged  Birmingham  :  it  was 
then  a  market-town,  built  mostly  along  one  street,  and  noted  for  its  smiths  and 
cutlers,  who  were  kept  busy  in  forging  pikes  and  swords  for  the  king's  oppo- 
nents. The  great  growth  of  the  city  has  been  in  the  present  century,  when  the 
population  has  trebled,  and  now  approaches  four  hundred  thousand.  The  mam 
features  of  its  history  relate  to  trade  and  manufactures,  otherwise  its  annals  are 
comparatively  commonplace.  There  is  little  remaining  of  the  old  town,  almost 
all  the  structures  being  modern.  St.  Martin's  Church,  replacing  the  original 
parish  church,  or  "  Mother  Church,"  as  it  is  called,  is  a  fine  modern  structure, 
'and  contains  some  interesting  monuments  of  the  Bermingeham  family.  There 
are  several  other  attractive  churches,  including  the  Unitarian  church  of  the 
Messiah,  which  is  supported  on  massive  arches,  for  it  is  built  over  a  canal  on 
which  are  several  locks  :  this  has  given  cause  for  a  favorite  Birmingham  wit- 


ticism 


'  St.  Peter's  world-wide  diocese 
Rests  on  the  power  of  the  keys ; 
Our  church,  a  trifle  heterodox, 
We'll  rest  on  a  '  power  of  locks.' 


Birmingham  has 
many  fine  public  and 
private  buildings 
and  some  attractive 
streets,  though  much 
of  the  town  is  made 
up  of  narrow  lanes 
and  dingy  houses, 
with  huge  factories 
in  every  direction. 
There  are  several 
small  parks,  the  gifts 
of  opulent  residents, 
notably  Aston  Hall. 
This  was  formerly 


ASTON    HALL. 


126 


ENGLAND,  riCTfRr.SQUF.   AXD 


the   residence  of  the  Holte  family,  and  the  fine  old  mansion  which  still  stands 
m    the  grounds   was   built   by   Sir  Thomas    Holte   in    the   reign   of  James   I. 
Charles  I.  is  said  to  have  slept  here  for  two  nights  before  the  battle  of  Edge- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^    hill,   for  which    offence    the 

-1—  -<^rS^^fk 

house  was  cannonaded  by 
the  Puritans  and  its  owners 
fined.  The  grounds,  cover- 
ing about  forty-two  acres, 
are  now  a  park,  and  a  pic- 
turesque little  church  has 
been  built  near  the  man- 
sion. Some  of  the  factories 
of  this  metropolis  of  hard- 
ware are  fine  structures, 
but  when  their  product  is 
spoken  of,  "  Brummagem  "  is 
-  GALLERY  OF  THE  PRESENCE,"  ASTON  HALL.  sometimes  quoted  as  synon- 

ymous for  showy  sham.  Here  they  are  said  to  make  gods  for  the  heathen  and 
antiquities  of  the  Pharaoh  age  for  Egypt,  with  all  sorts  of  relics  for  all  kinds 
of  battlefields.  But  Birmingham  nevertheless  has  a  reputation  for  more  solid 
wares.  Its  people  are  the  true  descendants  of  Tubal  Cain,  for  one  of  its  his- 
torians attractively  says  that  the  Arab  eats  with  a  Birmingham  spoon  ;  the 
Egyptian  takes  his  bowl  of  sherbet  from  a  Birmingham  tray;  the  American 
Indian  shoots  a  Birmingham  rifle ;  the  Hindoo  dines  on  Birmingham  plate  and 
sees  by  the  light  of  a  Birmingham  lamp  ;  the  South  American' horsemen  wear 
Birmingham  spurs  and  gaudily  deck  their  jackets  with  Birmingham  buttons; 
the  West  Indian  cuts  down  the  sugar-cane  with  Birmingham  hatchets  and 
presses  the  juice  into  Birmingham  vats  and  coolers ;  the  German  lights  his 
pipe  on  a  Birmingham  tinder-box;  the  emigrant  cooks  his  dinner  in  a  Bir- 
mingham saucepan  over  a  Birmingham  stove  ;  and  so  on  ad  injinitum.  A  cen- 
tury ago  this  famous  town  was  known  as  the  "toy-shop  of  Europe."  Its  glass- 
workers  stand  at  the  head  of  their  profession,  and  here  are  made  the  Vcat 
lighthouse  lenses  and  the  finest  stained  glass  to  be  found  in  English  windows. 
I  he  Messrs.  Elkington,  whose  reputation  is  worldwide,  here  invented  the  pro- 
cess of  electro-plating.  It  is  a  great  place  for  jewelry  and  the  champion 
emporium  for  buttons.  It  is  also  the  great  English  workshop  for  swords, 
guns,  and  other  small-arms,  and  here  are  turned  out  by  the  million  Gillott's 
steel  pens.  Over  all  these  industries  presides  the  magnificent  Town  Hall,  a 
Grecian  temple  standing  upon  an  arcade  basement,  and  built  of  hard  limestone 


FOTHERINGHAY. 


127 


brought  from  the  island  of  Anglesea.  The  interior  is  chiefly  a  vast  assembly- 
room,  where  concerts  are  given  and  political  meetings  held,  the  latter  usually 
being  the  more  exciting,  for  we  are  told  that  when  party  feeling  runs  high 
some  of  the  Birmingham  folk  "are  a  little  too  fond  of  preferring  force  to  argu- 
ment." But,  although  famed  for  its  Radical  politics  and  the  introduction  of  the 
"caucus"  into  England,  Birmingham  will  always  be  chiefly  known  by  its  manu- 
factures, and  these  will  recall  its  illustrious  inventors,  Boulton  and  Watt.  Their 
factory  was  at  Soho,  just  north  of  the  town.  Here  Watt  brought  the  steam- 


THE    TOWN-HALL,    IHRMINGII AM. 


engine  to  perfection,  here  gas  was  first  used,  plating  was  perfected,  and  myriads 
of  inventions  were  developed.  "The  labors  of  Boulton  and  Watt  at  Soho," 
says  the  historian  Langford,  "  changed  the  commercial  aspects  of  the  world." 
Their  history  is,  however,  but  an  epitome  of  the  wonderful  story  of  this  great 
city  of  the  glass  and  metal-workers,  whose  products  supply  the  entire  globe. 

FOTHERINGHAY. 

In  our  journey  through  Midland  England  we  have  paused  at  many  of  the 
prison-houses  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  In  Northamptonshire,  near  Elton, 
are  the  remains  of  the  foundations  of  the  castle  of  Fotheringhay,  out  in  a  field, 
with  the  mound  of  the  keep  rising  in  front  of  them  ;  this  was  the  unfortunate 
queen's  last  prison.  It  was  a  noted  castle,  dating  from  the  twelfth  century,  and 
had  been  a  principal  residence  of  the  Plantagenets.  Here  Mary  was  tried  and 


128  E.\GLA.\/>,  PICTURESQUE  A\D   DESCRIPTIVE. 


beheaded,  February  8,  1587.  She  is  said  to  have  borne  up  under  her  great 
afflictions  with  marvellous  courage.  Conducted  to  the  scaffold  after  taking 
leave  of  all,  she  made  a  short  address,  declaring  that  she  had  never  sought 
the  life  of  her  cousin  Elizabeth — that  she  was  queen-born,  not  subject  to  the 
laws,  and  forgiving  all.  Her  attendants  in  tears  then  assisted  her  to  remove  her 
clothing,  but  she  firmly  said,  "  Instead  of  weeping,  rejoice ;  I  am  very  happy  to 
leave  this  world  and  in  so  good  a  cause."  Then  she  knelt,  and  after  praying 
stretched  out  her  neck  to  the  executioner,  imagining  that  he  would  strike  off 
her  head  while  in  an  upright  posture  and  with  the  sword,  as  in  France;  they 
told  her  of  her  mistake,  and  without  ceasing  to  pray  she  laid  her  head  on  the 
block.  There  was  a  universal  feeling  of  compassion,  even  the  headsman  him- 
self being  so  moved  that  he  did  his  work  with  unsteady  hand,  the  axe  falling 
on  the  back  of  her  head  and  wounding  her ;  but  she  did  not  move  nor  utter  a 
complaint,  and,  repeating  the  blow,  he  struck  off  her  head,  which  he  held  up, 
saying,  "  God  save  Queen  Elizabeth !"  Her  lips  moved  for  some  time  after 
death,  and  few  recognized  her  features,  they  were  so  much  changed, 

HOLMBY    HOUSE. 

Also  in  Northamptonshire  is  Holmby  House,  where  King  Charles  I.  was  cap- 
tured by  the  army  previous  to  his  trial.  It  was  built  by  Sir  Christopher  Hatton 
in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  but  only  the  gates  and  some  outbuildings  remain. 
After  the  battle  of  Naseby  the  king  surrendered  himself  to  the  Scots,  and  they, 
through  an  arrangement  with  the  English  Parliament,  conducted  him  to  Holmby 
House,  where  he  maintained  something  of  sovereign  state,  though  under  the 
surveillance  of  the  Parliamentary  commissioners.  He  devoted  his  time  to 
receiving  visitors,  the  bowling-green,  and  the  chess-table.  This  continued  for 
some  months,  when  a  struggle  began  between  the  army  and  the  Parliament  to 
decide  whose  captive  he  was.  The  army  subsequently,  by  a  plot,  got  posses- 
sion of  Holmby,  and,  practically  making  prisoners  of  the  garrison  and  the  com- 
missioners of  Parliament,  they  abducted  the  king  and  took  him  to  a  house  near 
Huntingdon.  Fairfax  sent  two  regiments  of  troops  thither  to  escort  him  back 
to  Holmby,  but  he  had  been  treated  with  great  courtesy  and  declined  to  go 
back.  Thus  by  his  own  practical  consent  the  king  was  taken  possession  of 
by  Cromwell,  Fairfax,  and  Ireton,  who  were  in  command,  although  they  denied 
it,  and  put  the  whole  blame  on  one  Cornet  Joyce  who  was  in  command  of  the 
detachment  of  troops  that  took  possession  of  Holmby.  The  king  was  ulti- 
mately taken  to  London,  tried,  and  executed  in  Whitehall.  At  Ashby  St.  Leger, 
near  Daventry,  in  Northamptonshire,  is  the  gate-house  of  the  ancient  manor. of 
the  Catesbys,  of  whom  Robert  Catesby  was  the  contriver  of  the  Gunpowder 


BEDFORD    CASTLE.  I  29 

Plot.  The  thirteen  conspirators  who  framed  the  plot  met  in  a  room  over  the 
gateway  which  the  villagers  call  the  "  Plot-room,"  and  here  Guy  Fa\vkes  was 
equipped  for  his  task,  which  so  alarmed  the  kingdom  that  to  this  day  the  cel- 
lars of  the  Parliament  Houses  are  searched  before  the  session  begins  for  fear 
a  new  plot  may  have  been  hatched,  while  the  anniversary  is  kept  as  a  solemn 
holiday  in  London.  The  lantern  used  by  Guy  Fawkes  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Oxford  Museum,  having  been  given  to  the  University  in  1641. 

BEDFORD    CASTLE. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  strongholds  of  Midland  England  was  the 
Bedicanford  of  the  Saxons,  where  contests  took  place  between  them  and  the 
Britons  as  early  as  the  sixth  century.  It  stood  in  a  fertile  valley  on  the  Ouse, 
and  is  also  mentioned  in  the  subsequent  contests  with  the  Danes,  having  been 
destroyed  by  them  in  the  eleventh  century.  Finally,  William  Rufus  built  a 
castle  there,  and  its  name  gradually  changed  to  Bedford.  It  was  for  years 
subject  to  every  storm  of  civil  war — was  taken  and  retaken,  the  most  famous 
siege  lasting  sixty  days,  when  Henry  III.  personally  conducted  the  operations, 
being  attended  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  chief  peers  of  the 
realm:  this  was  in  1224,  and  the  most  ingenious  engines  of  war  were  used  to 
batter  down  the  castle:walls,  which  till  then  had  been  regarded  as  impregnable. 
The  stronghold  was  ultimately  captured,  chiefly  through  the  agency  of  a  lofty- 
wooden  castle  higher  than  the  walls,  which  gave  an  opportunity  of  seeing  all 
that  passed  within.  The  governor  of  the  castle,  twenty-four  knights,  and 
eighty  soldiers,  making  most  of  the  garrison,  were  hanged.  King  Henry  then 
dismantled  it  and  filled  up  the  ditches,  so  as  to  "uproot  this  nursery  of  sedi- 
tion." The  ruins  lasted  some  time  afterward,  but  now  only  the  site  is  known, 
located  alongside  the  river  Ouse,  which  runs  through  the  city  of  Bedford.  This 
town  is  of  great  interest,  though,  as  Camden  wrote  two  centuries  ago,  it  is  more 
eminent  for  its  "  pleasant  situation  and  antiquity  than  for  anything  of  beauty 
and  stateliness."  Its  neighborhood  has  been  a  noted  mine  for  antiquities,  dis- 
closing remains  of  ancient  races  of  men  and  of  almost  pre-historic  animals  of 
the  Bronze  and  Iron  Ages.  The  town  lies  rather  low  on  the  river,  with  a  hand- 
some bridge  connecting  the  two  parts,  and  pretty  gardens  fringing  each  shore. 
This  bridge  is  a  modern  structure,  having  succeeded  the  "  old  bridge,"  which 
stood  there  several  centuries  with  a  gate-house  at  either  epd,  in  the  larger  of 
which  was  the  old  jail,  that  had  for  its  most  distinguished  occupant  that  sturdy 
townsman  of  Bedford,  John  Bunyan.  The  castle-mound,  which  is  all  that  is 
left,  and  on  which  once  stood  the  keep,  is  on  the  river-shore  just  below  the 
bridge,  and  is  now  used  for  a  bowling-green  in  the  garden  of  the  chief  hotel. 

17 


i3o 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


The'  memorials  of  the  author  of  the  Pilgrim  s  Progress,  first  a  prisoner  and 
then  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  Bedford,  are  probably  the  most  prized  remains 
of  ancient  days  that  Bedford  has,  though  they  are  now  becoming  scarce. 

JOHN    BUNYAN. 

Elstow,  a  village  about  one  mile  south  of  Bedford,  was  Banyan's  birthplace. 
The  house  is  still  pointed  out,  though  a  new  front  has  been  put  into  it,  and  it  is 

a  very  small  building,  suitable  to  the  tinker's 
humble  estate.  The  village-green  where 
he  played  is  near  by,  alongside  the  church- 
yard wall ;  the  church,  which  has  been  little 
changed,  stands  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
yard,  with  a  massive  tower  at  the  north- 
western angle,  looking  more  like  a  fortress 
than  a  religious  edifice.  The  bells  are  still 
there  which  Bunyan  used  to  ring,  and  they 
also  point  out  '•  Bunyan's  Pew "  inside, 
though  the  regularity  of  his  attendance 
is  not  vouched  for,  as  he  says  "absenting 
himself  from  church"  was  one  of  his  of- 
fences during  the  greater  part  of  his  life. 
He  married  early  and  in  poor  circumstances,  the  young  couple  "not  having  so 
much  household  stuff  as  a  dish  or  spoon  betwixt  them  both,"  though  he  con- 
sidered it  among  his  mercies  that  he  was  led  "  to  light  upon  a  wife  of  godly 
parentage."  He  says  that  a  marked  change  in  his  mental  condition  suddenly 
began  while  playing  a 
game  of  "  tip-cat  "  on 
Sunday  afternoon  on 
the  village-green,  hav- 
ing listened  in  the 
morning  to  a  sermon 
upon  Sabbath-break- 
His  conscience 


ELSTOW,    liKDFOKI). 


ing. 


smote  him  ;  he  aban- 
doned the  game,  leav- 
ing his  cat  upon  the 
ground,  and  then  be-  ELSTOW  CHURCH. 

gan  his  great  spiritual  struggle.      He  joined  the  Baptists,  and  began  preaching, 
for  at  length,  after  many  tribulations,  he  says,  "the  burden  fell  from  off- his 


WOBL'RX  ABBEY. 


NORTH    DOOR, 


back."  He  was  persecuted,  and  committed  to  Bedford  jail,  where  he  remained 
(with  short  intervals  of  parole)  for  about  twelve  years.  Here  he  wrote  what 
Macaulay  declares  to  be  incomparably  the  finest  allegory  in  the  English  lan- 
guage— the  Pilgrim" s  Progress.  He  was  a  volu- 
minous author,  having  written  some  sixty  tracts 
and  books.  Finally  pardoned  in  1672,  he  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Bedford  meeting-house,  and 
afterwards  escaped  molestation  ;  he  preached  in 
all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  especially  in  London, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty,  having  caught 
cold  in  a  heavy  storm  while  going  upon  an  er- 
rand of  mercy  in  1688.  His  great  work  will 
live  as  long  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  endures. 
"That  wonderful  book,"  writes  Macaulay,  "while 
it  obtains  admiration  from  the  most  fastidious 
critics,  is  loved  by  those  who  are  too  simple  to 
admire  it.  ...  Every  reader  knows  the  strait 
and  narrow  path  as  well  as  he  knows  a  road  in  which  he  has  gone  backward 
and  forward  a  hundred  times.  This  is  the  highest  miracle  of  genius,  that 
things  which  are  not  should  be  as  though  they  were — that  the  imaginations  of 
one  mind  should  become  the  personal  recollections  of  another ;  and  this  mir- 
acle the  tinker  has  wrought." 

\Y015URX    ABBEY. 

The  county  of  Bedford  gives  the  title  to  the  dukedom  held  by  the  head  of 
the  great  family  of  Russell,  and  Francis  Charles  Hastings  Russell,  the  ninth 
Duke  of  Bedford,  has  his  residence  at  the  magnificent  estate  of  Woburn  Abbey. 
It  is  about  forty  miles  from  London,  and  on  the  Buckinghamshire  border.  Here 
the  Cistercians  founded  an  abbey  in  the  twelfth  century,  which  continued  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses  by  Henry  VIII..  and  the  last  abbot, 
Robert  Hobs,  was  executed  for  denying  the  king's  religious  supremacy,  the 
tree  on  which  he  was  hanged  being  still  carefully  preserved  in  Woburn  Park. 
The  abbey  and  its  domain  were  granted  by  the  youthful  king  Edward  \  I.  to 
John  Russell,  first  Earl  of  Bedford,  under  circumstances  which  show  how  for- 
tune sometimes  smiles  upon  mortals.  Russell,  who  had  been  abroad  and  was 
an  accomplished  linguist,  had  in  i  506  returned,  and  was  living  with  his  lather 
in  Dorsetshire  at  Berwick,  near  the  sea-coast.  Soon  afterwards  in  a  tempest 
three  foreign  vessels  sought  refuge  in  the  neighboring  port  of  \Yeymouth.  On 
one  of  them  was  the  Austrian  archduke  Philip,  son-in-law  of  Ferdinand  and 


132 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


Isabella,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Spain.  The  governor  took  the  archduke  to 
his  castle,  and  invited  young  Mr.  Russell  to  act  as  interpreter.  The  archduke 
was  so  delighted  with  him  that  he  subsequently  invited  Russell  to  accompany 
him  on  a  visit  to  King  Henry  VII.  at  Windsor.  The  king  was  also  impressed 
with  Russell,  and  appointed  him  to  an  office  in  the  court,  and  three  years  after- 
wards, Henry  VIII.  becoming  king,  Russell  was  entrusted  with  many  important 
duties,  and  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Russell.  He  enjoyed  the 
king's  favor  throughout  his  long  reign,  and  was  made  one  of  the  councillors 


WOIiURN    AlilSEV,     WEST    FRONT. 

of  his  son,  Edward  VI.,  besides  holding  other  high  offices,  and  when  the  youth- 
ful prince  ascended  the  throne  he  made  Russell  an  earl  and  gave  him  the 
magnificent  domain  of  Woburn  Abbey.  He  also  enjoyed  the  favor  of  Queen 
Mary,  and  escorted  her  husband  Philip  from  Spain,  this  being  his  last  public 
act.  Dying  in  1555,  he  was  buried  in  the  little  parish  church  of  Chenies,  near 
Woburn,  where  all  the  Russells  rest  from  his  time  until  now.  He  thus  founded 
one  of  the  greatest  houses  of  England,  which  has  furnished  political  leaders 
from  that  day  to  this,  for  the  Dukes  of  Bedford  and  Devonshire  are  the  heads 
of  the  Whig  party,  and  Lord  John  Russell  (afterwards  an  earl)  was  the  uncle 
of  the  present  duke. 

Woburn  Abbey  remained  until  the  last  century  much  in  its  original  condition, 
but  in  1747  changes  began  which  have  since  been  continued,  and  have  resulted 


WO  BURN  ABBEY. 


133 


in  the  construction  of  the  ducal  palace  now  adorning  the  spot.  The 
mansion  is  a  quadrangle  enclosing  a  spacious  court,  the  chief  front  being 
towards  the  west  and  extending  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  It  is  an  Ionic 
building  with  a  rustic  basement,  and  within  are  spacious  state-apartments  and 
ample  accommodations  for  the  family.  The  rooms  are  filled  with  the  best 
collection  of  portraits  of  great  historical  characters  in  the  kingdom,  and 
most  of  them  are  by  famous  artists.  They  include  all  the  Earls  and  Dukes 
of  Bedford,  with  their  wives  and  famous 
relatives,  and  also  the  Leicesters,  Essexes, 
and  Sydneys  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign, 
with  many  others.  The  unfortunate  Lord 
William  Russell  and  his  wife  Rachel  are 
here,  and  over  his  portrait  is  the  walking- 
stick  which  supported  him  to  the  scaffold, 
while  hanging  on  the  wall  is  a  copy  of  his 
last  address,  printed  within  an  hour  after 
his  execution.  Of  another  of  these  old 
portraits  Horace  Walpole  writes  :  "  A  pale 
Roman  nose,  a  head  of  hair  loaded  with 
crowns  and  powdered ,  with  diamonds,  a 
vast  ruff  and  still  vaster  fardingale,  and  a 
bushel  of  pearls,  are  the  features  by  which 
everybody  knows  at  once  the  pictures  of 
Queen  Elizabeth."  There  is  a  fine  library, 
and  passing  out  of  it  into  the  flower-garden  is  seen  on  the  lawn  the  stump  of  the 
yew  tree  which  Mr.  Gladstone  felled  in  October,  1878,  as  a  memorial  of  his  visit, 
he  being  as  proud  of  his  ability  as  a  forester  as  he  is  of  his  eminence  as  a  states- 
man. From  the  house  a  covered  way  leads  to  the  statue-gallery,  which  con- 
tains an  admirable  collection,  and  the  green-house,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  filled  with  valuable  foreign  plants,  the  family  being  great  horti- 
culturists. Busts  of  the  great  Whig  statesmen  are  in  the  gallery,  and  it 
also  contains  the  celebrated  Land  vase,  brought  from  Rome.  The  "Woburn 
Abbey  Marbles  "  have  long  been  a  Mecca  for  sculpture-loving  pilgrims  from 
both  sides  of  the  ocean.  There  are  extensive  stables,  and  to  them  are 
attached  a  fine  tennis-court  and  riding-house,  both  constantly  used  by  the 
younger  Russells.  Beyond  is  a  Chinese  dairy  kept  for  show,  and  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  grounds  a  curious  puzzle-garden  and  rustic  grotto.  Woburn  Park 
is  one  of  the  largest  private  enclosures  in  England,  covering  thirty-five  hun- 
dred acres,  and  enclosed  by  a  brick  wall  twelve  miles  long  and  eight  feet  high. 


THE    SCULPTURE-GALLERY,    WOBURN    ABBEY. 


134 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


It  is  undulating  in  surface,  containing  several  pretty  lakes  and  a  large  herd  of 
deer.  Its  "  Evergreen  Drive  "  is  noted,  for  in  the  spring-time  it  attracts  visitors 
from  all  quarters  to  see  the  magnificence  of  the  rhododendrons,  which  cover 

two  hundred  acres.  The  state  en- 
trance to  the  park  is  through  a  large 
stone  archway  with  ornamental  gates, 
called  the  "  Golden  Gates,"  on  the  road 
from  London,  and  having  two  drives 
of  about  a  mile  each  leading  up  to 
the  abbey.  The  dukes  are  liberal  pa- 
trons of  agriculture,  and  their  annual 
"sheep-shearing"  used  to  be  one  of 
ENTRANCE  TO  THE  PUZZLE-GARDEN,  woBURN  ABBEY,  the  great  festivals  of  this  part  of  Eng- 
land. They  have  also  aided  in  the  work  of  draining  the  Fen  country,  which 
extends  into  Bedfordshire,  and  which  has  reclaimed  a  vast  domain  of  the  best 
farm-land,  stretching  northward  for  fifty  miles. 

STOWE. 

We  are  now  approaching  London,  and,  crossing  over  the  border  into  Buck- 
inghamshire, come  to  another  ducal  palace.  This  is  the  fine  estate,  near  the 
town  of  Buckingham,  of  Stowe,  also  originally  an  abbey,  which  came  into  pos- 
session of  the  Temple  family  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  1749  merged 
into  the  estate  of  the  Grenvilles,  the  ancestors  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
its  present  owner.  Stowe  gets  its  chief  fame  from  its  pleasure-gardens,  which 
Pope  has  commemorated.  They  appear  at  a  distance  like  a  vast  grove,  from 
whose  luxuriant  foliage  emerge  obelisks,  columns,  and  towers.  They  are 
adorned  with  arches,  pavilions,  temples,  a  rotunda,  hermitage,  grotto,  lake, 
and  bridge.  The  temples  are  filled  with  statuary.  The  mansion,  which  has 
been  greatly  enlarged,  has  a  frontage  of  nine  hundred  and  sixteen  feet,  and 
its  windows  look  out  over  the  richest  possible  landscape,  profuse  with  every 
adornment.  In  the  interior  the  rooms,  opening  one  into  another,  form  a  superb 
suite.  There  is  a  Rembrandt  Room,  hung  with  pictures  by  that  painter,  and 
there  were  many  curiosities  from  Italy  ;  old  tapestry  and  draperies  ;  rich  Oriental 
stuffs,  the  spoils  of  Tippoo  Saib  ;  furniture  from  the  Doge's  Palace  in  Venice  ; 
marble  pavements  from  Rome ;  fine  paintings  and  magnificent  plate.  For- 
merly, Stowe  contained  the  grandest  collection  in  England,  and  in  this  superb 
palace,  thus  gorgeously  furnished,  Richard  Grenville,  the  first  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, entertained  Louis  XYIII.  and  Charles  X.  of  France  and  their  suites  during 
their  residence  in  England.  His  hospitality  was  too  much  for  him,  and,  bur- 


CKESL  O  W  HO  USE.  I  3  5 


dened  with  debt,  he  was  compelled  to  shut  up  Stowe  and  go  abroad.  In  1845 
his  successor  received  Queen  Victoria  at  Stowe  at  enormous  cost,  and  in  1848 
there  was  a  financial  crisis  in  the  family.  The  sumptuous  contents  of  the 
palace  were  sold  to  pay  the  debts,  and  realized  $375,000.  A  splendid  avenue 
of  elms  leads  up  from  the  town  of  Buckingham  to  Stowe,  a  distance  of  two 
miles. 

Not  far  away  from  Buckingham  is  Whaddon  Hall,  formerly  a  seat  of  the 
Dukes  of  Buckingham,  but  best  known  as  the  residence  of  Browne  Willis,  an 
eccentric  antiquary,  whose  person  and  dress  were  so  singular  that  he  was  often 
mistaken  for  a  beggar,  and  who  is  said  "  to  have  written  the  very  worst  hand 
of  any  man  in  England."  He  wore  one  pair  of  boots  for  forty  years,  having 
them  patched  when  they  were  worn  out,  and  keeping  them  till  they  had  got 
all  in  wrinkles,  so  that  he  was  known  as  "Old  Wrinkle-boots."  He  was  great 
for  building  churches  and  quarrelling  with  the  clergy,  and  left  behind  him  valu- 
able collections  of  coins  and  manuscripts,  which  he  bequeathed  to  Oxford  Uni- 
versity. Great  Hampden,  the  home  of  the  patriot,  John  Hampden,  is  also  in 
Buckinghamshire.  The  original  house  remains,  much  disfigured  by  stucco  and 
whitewash,  and  standing  in  a  secluded  spot  in  the  Chiltern  Hills  ;  it  is  still  the 
property  of  his  descendants  in  the  seventh  generation. 

CRESLOW    HOUSE. 

The  manor  of  Creslow  in  Buckinghamshire,  owned  by  Lord  Clifford  of 
Chudleigh,  is  a  pasture-farm  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  and  is  said  to 
raise  some  of  the  finest  cattle  in  England ;  it  was  the  home  of  the  regicide 
Holland.  The  mansion  is  an  ancient  one,  spacious  and  handsome,  much  of 
it,  including  the  crypt  and  tower,  coming  down  from  the  time  of  Edward  III., 
with  enlargements  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  It  is  a  picturesque 
yet  venerable  building,  with  many  gables  and  curious  chimneys,  and  surmount- 
ed by  a  square  tower  and  loopholed  turret.  But  its  chief  interest  attaches  to 
the  two  ancient  cellars  known  as  the  crypt  and  the  dungeon  :  the  crypt  is 
about  twelve  feet  square,  excavated  in  the  limestone  rock,  and  having  a  Gothic 
vaulted  ceiling,  with  a  single  small  window ;  the  dungeon  is  eighteen  feet  long 
half  as  wide,  and  six  feet  high,  without  any  windows,  and  with  a  roof  formed 
of  massive  stones.  This  is  the  "  haunted  chamber  of  Creslow  " — haunted  by 
a  lady,  Rosamond  Clifford,  the  "  Fair  Rosamond  "  of  Woodstock,  often  heard, 
but  seldom  seen,  by  those  who  stay  at  night  in  the  room,  which  she  enters  by 
a  Gothic  doorway  leading  from  the  crypt.  Few  have  ever  ventured  to  sleep 
there,  but  no;  long  ago  a  guest  was  prevailed  upon  to  do  it,  and  next  morning 
at  breakfast  he  told  his  story :  "  Having  entered  the  room,  I  locked  and  bolted 


136  EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


both  doors,  carefully  examined  the  whole  room,  and  satisfied  myself  that  there 
was  no  living  creature  in  it  but  myself,  nor  any  entrances  but  those  I  had 
secured.  I  got  into  bed,  and,  with  the  conviction  that  I  should  sleep  as  usual 
till  six  in  the  morning,  I  was  soon  lost  in  a  comfortable  slumber.  Suddenly  I 
was  aroused,  and  on  raising  my  head  to  listen  I  heard  a  sound  certainly  resem- 
bling the  light,  soft  tread  of  a  lady's  footstep,  accompanied  with  the  rustling  as 
of  a  silk  gown.  I  sprang  out  of  bed  and  lighted  a  candle  ;  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen  and  nothing  now  to  be  heard ;  I  carefully  examined  the  whole  room, 
looked  under  the  bed,  into  the  fireplace,  up  the  chimney,  and  at  both  the  doors, 
which  were  fastened  as  I  had  left  them  ;  I  looked  at  my  watch,  and  it  was  a  few 
minutes  past  twelve.  As  all  was  now  perfectly  quiet,  I  extinguished  the  candle 
and  soon  fell  asleep.  I  was  again  aroused ;  the  noise  was  now  louder  than 
before  ;  it  appeared  like  the  violent  rustling  of  a  stiff  silk  dress.  I  sprang 
out  of  bed,  darted  to  the  spot  where  the  noise  was,  and  tried  to  grasp  the 
intruder  in  my  arms;  my  arms  met  together,  but  enclosed  nothing.  The  noise 
passed  to  another  part  of  the  room,  and  I  followed  it,  groping  near  the  floor  to 
prevent  anything  passing  under  my  arms.  It  was  in  vain  ;  I  could  feel  noth- 
ing ;  the  noise  had  passed  away  through  the  Gothic  door,  and  all  was  still  as 
death.  I  lighted  a  candle  and  examined  the  Gothic  door,  but  it  was  shut  and 
fastened  just  as  I  had  left  it ;  I  again  examined  the  whole  room,  but  could  find 
nothing  to  account  for  the  noise.  I  now  left  the  candle  burning,  though  I  never 
sleep  comfortably  with  a  light  in  my  room  ;  I  got  into  bed,  but  felt,  it  must  be 
acknowledged,  not  a  little  perplexed  at  not  being  able  to  detect  the  cause  of 
the  noise,  nor  to  account  for  its  cessation  when  the  candle  was  lighted.  While 
ruminating  on  these  things  I  fell  asleep,  and  began  to  dream  about  murders 
and  secret  burials  and  all  sorts  of  horrible  things  ;  and  just  as  I  fancied  my- 
self knocked  down  by  a  knight  templar,  I  awoke  and  found  the  sun  shining 
brightly." 

This  ancient  house  was  originally  the  home  of  a  lodge  of  Knights  Templar, 
and  the  dungeon,  which  is  now  said  to  be  appropriately  decorated  with  skulls 
and  other  human  bones,  was  formerly  their  stronghold.  At  this  weird  man- 
sion, within  a  few  minutes'  ride  of  the  metropolis,  we  will  close  our  descriptive 
journey  through  Midland  England,  and  its  mystic  tale  will  recall  that  passage 
from  the  Book  oj  Days  which  counsels — 

"Doubtless  there  are  no  ghosts; 
Yet  somehow  it  is  better  not  to  move, 
Lest  cold  hands  seize  upon  us  from  behind." 


IV. 
THE  RIVER  THAMES  AND  LONDON. 

The  Thames  Head — Cotswold  Hills — Seven  Springs — Cirencester — Cheltenham — Sudcley  Castle — Chav- 
enage — Shifford — Lechlade — Stanton  Harcourt — Cumnor  Hall — Fair  Rosamond — Godstow  Nunnery- 
Oxford — Oxford  Colleges — Christ  Church — Corpus  Christi — Merton — Oriel — All  Souls — University — • 
Queen's — Magdalen — Brasenose — New  College — Radcliffc  Library — Bodleian  Library — Lincoln — 
Exeter — Wadham — Keble — Trinity — Balliol — St.  John's — Pembroke — Oxford  Churches — Oxford  Cas- 
tle— Carfax  Conduit — Banbury — Broughton  Castle — Woodstock — Marlborough  —  Blenheim — Minster 
Lovel — Bicester — Eynsham — Abingdon — Radley — Bacon,  Rich,  and  Holt — Clifton  Hampdcn — Cavers- 
ham— Reading — Maidenhead — Bisham  Abbey — Vicar  of  Br.iy — Eton  College — Windsor  Castle — • 
Magna  Charta  Island— Cowey  Stakes — Ditton — Twickenham — London — Fire  Monument — St.  Paul's 
Cathedral — Westminster  Abbey — The  Tower — Lollards  and  Lambeth — Bow  Church— St.  Bride's — 
Whitehall — -Horse  Guards — St.  James  Palace — Buckingham  Palace — Kensington  Palace — Houses  of 
Parliament — Hyde  Park— Marble  Arch — Albert  Memorial — South  Kensinglon  Museum — Royal  Ex- 
change— Bank  of  England — Mansion  House — Inns  of  Court — British  Museum — Some  London  Scenes 
— The  Underground  Railway — Holland  House — Greenwich — Tilbury  Fort — The  Thames  Mouth. 

THE    THAMES     HEAD. 

THE  river  Thames  is  the  largest  and  most  important  river  in  England,  and 
carries  the  greatest  commerce  in  the  world.  From  the  Cotswold  Hills 
in  Gloucestershire  it  flows  to  the  eastward  past  London,  and  after  a  course  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  empties  into  the  North  Sea.  The  confluence 
of  many  small  streams  draining  the  Cotswolds  makes  the  Thames,  but  its 
traditional  source,  or  "The  Thames  Head,"  is  in  Trewsbury  Mead,  about  three 
miles  from  Cirencester,  and  at  an  elevation  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-six 
feet  above  the  sea-level.  The  waters  of  the  infant  stream  are  at  once  pressed 
into  service  for  pumping  into  the  higher  levels  of  a  canal,  which  pierces  the 
Cotswolds  by  a  long  tunnel,  and  connects  the  Thames  with  the  Severn  River, 
flowing  along  their  western  base.  It  receives  many  tiny  rivulets  that  swell 
its  current,  until  at  Cricklacle  the  most  ambitious  of  these  affluents  joins  it,  and 
even  lays  claim  to  be  the  original  stream.  This  is  the  Churn,  rising  at  the  "Seven 
Springs,"  about  three  miles  from  Cheltenham,  and  also  on  the  slope  of  the  Cots- 
wolds. The  Churn  claims  the  honor  because  it  is  twenty  miles  long,  while  the 
Thames  down  to  Cricklade  measures  only  ten  miles.  But  they  come  together 
affectionately,  and  journey  on  through  rich  meadows  much  like  other  streams, 
until  the  clear  waters  have  acquired  sufficient  dignity  to  turn  a  mill. 

IS  187 


38 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


Cirencester  (pronounced  Cisseter),  which  thus  has  the  honor  of  being  a  near 
neighbor  of  the  Thames  Head,  is  an  ancient  town,  occupying  the  site  of  the 
Roman  city  of  Corinium,  and  is  known  as  the  "  metropolis  of  the  Cotswolds." 
Mere  four  great  Roman  roads  met,  and  among  the  many  Roman  remains  it 
has  is  part  of  the  ruins  of  an  amphitheatre.  It  was  a  famous  stronghold  before 
the  Saxons  came  to  England,  and  Polydorus  tells  how  one  Gormund,  an  Afri- 
can prince,  in  the  dim  ages  of  the  past,  besieged  it  for  seven  long  years.  Then 
he  bethought  him  that  if  he  could  only  set  fire  to  the  thatched  roofs  of  tne 
houses  he  could  in  the  commotion  that  would  follow  force  an  entrance.  So  he 


set  his  troops  at  wrork  catching  sparrows,  and  when  many  were  caught  fastened 
combustibles  under  their  tails  and  let  them  loose.  The  poor  birds  flew  straight 
to  their  nests  under  the  thatches,  set  them  in  a  blaze,  and  while  the  people  were 
busy  putting  out  the  fires  Gormund  got  into  the  town.  In  memory 'of  this  it 
was  afterwards  called  the  "  City  of  Sparrows."  The  Normans  built  a  strong 
castle  here,  and  Stephen  destroyed  it.  The  castle  was  rebuilt,  and  suffered 
the  usual  fate  in  the  successive  civil  wars,  and  in  the  Revolution  of  1688  the 
first  bloodshed  was  at  Cirencester.  It  had  a  magnificent  abbey,  built  for  the 
Black  Canons  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  ruled  by  a  mitred  abbot  who  had  a 
seat  in  Parliament.  A  fine  gateway  of  this  abbey  remains,  and  also  the  beauti- 
ful church  with  its  pretty  tower.  It  is  known  now  as  the  parish  church  of  St. 
John,  and  has  been  thoroughly  restored.  Within  are  the  monuments  of  the 
Bathurst  family,  whose  seat  at  Oakley  Park,  near  the  town,  has  some  charming 
scenery.  Pope's  Seat,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  poet,  is  also  in  the  park.  Chel- 
tenham, near  which  is  the  "Seven  Springs,"  the  source  of  the  Churn,  is  a 
popular  watering-place,  with  the  Earl  of  Eldon's  seat  at  Stowell  Park  not  far 


SUDELEY  CASTLE  AND    CHAVEXAGE.  139 

away.  Here  in  1864  a  Roman  villa  was  discovered,  which  has  been  entirely 
excavated.  It  has  twenty  chambers  communicating  with  a  long  corridor,  and 
there  are  several  elegant  tessellated  pavements,  while  the  walls  are  still  stand- 
ing to  a  height  of  four  feet.  Two  temples  have  also  been  found  in  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood.  Substantial  buildings  have  been  erected  to  protect  these 
precious  remains  from  the  weather. 

SUDELEY  CASTLE  AND  CH AY EX AGE. 

In  the  Cotswolds  is  the  castle  of  Sudeley,  its  ruins  being  in  rather  good 
preservation.  It  was  an  extensive  work,  built  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  and 
was  destroyed  in  the  Civil  Wars ;  it  was  a  famous  place  in  the  olden  time,  and 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  magnificent  castles  in  England  when  Queen 
Elizabeth  made  her  celebrated  progress  thither  in  1592.  After  the  death  of 
Henry  \  III.,  his  queen,  Catharine  Parr,  married  Lord  Seymour  of  Sudeley, 
and  she  died  and  was  buried  in  this  castle :  it  is  related  that  her  leaden  coffin 
was  exhumed  in  1782,  two  hundred  and  eighty  years  after  her  death,  and  the 
remains  wer.e  found  in  excellent  preservation.  Among  the  records  of  the 
castle  is  a  manuscript  stating  that  Catharine  Parr  was  told  by  an  astrologer 
who  calculated  her  nativity  that  she  was  born  to  sit  in  the  "  highest  state  of 
imperial  majesty,"  and  that  she  had  all  the  eminent  stars  and  planets  in  her 
house:  this  worked  such  lofty  conceit  in  the  lady  that  "her  mother  could  never 
make  her  sew  or  do  any  small  work,  saying  her  hands  were  ordained  to  touch 
crowns  and  sceptres,  not  needles  and  thimbles."  Near  Tatbury,  and  also  in  the 
Cotswolds,  is  the  source  of  the  classic  river  Avon,  and  north-west  of  the  town 
is  the  fine  Elizabethan  mansion  of  Chavenage,  with  its  attractive  hall  and  chapel. 
The  original  furniture,  armor,  and  weapons  are  still  preserved.  This  was  the 
old  manor-house  of  the  family  of  Stephens,  and  Nathaniel  represented  Glou- 
cestershire in  Parliament  at  the  time  of  the  conviction  of  Charles  I. :  it  is  related 
that  he  was  only  persuaded  to  agree  to  the  condemnation  by  the  impetuous 
Ireton,  who  came  there  and  sat  up  all  night  in  urgent  argument  "to  whet  his 
almost  blunted  purpose."  Stephens  died  in  May,  1649,  expressing  regret  for 
having  participated  in  the  execution  of  his  sovereign.  We  are  further  told  in 
the  traditions  of  the  house  that  when  all  the  relatives  were  assembled  for  the 
funeral,  and  the  courtyard  was  crowded  with  equipages,  another  coach,  gor- 
geously ornamented  and  drawn  by  black  horses,  solemnly  approached  the 
porch :  when  it  halted,  the  door  opened,  and,  clad  in  his  shroud,  the  shade  of 
Stephens  glided  into  the  carriage ;  the  door  was  closed  by  an  unseen  hand,  and 
the  coach  moved  off,  the  driver  being  a  beheaded  man,  arrayed  in  royal  vest- 
ments and  wearing  the  insignia  of  the  Star  and  Garter.  Passing  the  gateway 


140 


E.\GLA.\D,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


of  the  courtyard,  the  equipage  vanished  in  flames.  Tradition  maintains  also 
that  every  lord  of  Chavenage  dying  in  the  manor-house  since  has  departed 
in  the  same  awful  manner. 

The  Thames  flows  on  after  its  junction  with  the  Churn,  and  receives  other 
pretty  streams,  all  coming  out  of  the  Cotswolds.  The  Coin  and  the  Leche, 
coming  in  near  Lechlade,  swell  its  waters  sufficiently  to  make  it  navigable  for 
barges,  and  the  river  sets  up  a  towing-path,  for  here  the  canal  from  the  Severn 
joins  it.  The  river  passes  in  solitude  out  of  Gloucestershire,  and  then  for 
miles  becomes  the  boundary  between  Oxfordshire  on  the  north  and  Berkshire 
on  the  south.  The  canal  has  been  almost  superseded  by  the  railway,  so  that 
passing  barges  are  rare,  but  the  towing-path  and  the  locks  remain,  with  an 
occasional  rustic  dam  thrown  across  the  gradually  widening  river.  In  this 
almost  deserted  region  is  the  isolated  hamlet  of  Shifford,  where  King  Alfred 
held  a  parliament  a  thousand  years  ago.  Near  it  is  the  New  Bridge,  a  solid 
structure,  but  the  oldest  bridge  that  crosses  the  Thames,  for  it  was  "  new  "  just 
six  hundred  years  ago.  The  Thames  then  receives  the  Windrush  and  the 
Evenlode,  and  it  passes  over  frequent  weirs  that  have  become  miniature  rapids, 
yet  not  too  dangerous  for  an  expert  oarsman  to  guide  his  boat  through  safely. 
Thus  the  famous  river  comes  to  Bablock  Hythe  Ferry,  and  at  once  enters  an 
historic  region. 

STANTON     HARCOURT    AND    CUMNOR     HALL. 

A  short  distance  from  the  ferry  in  Oxfordshire  is  Stanton  Harcourt,  with  its 

three  upright  sandstones,  "  the  Devil's  Coits,"  sup- 
posed to  have  been  put  there  to  commemorate  a 
battle  between  the  Saxons  and  the  Britons  more 
than  twelve  centuries  ago.  The  village  gets  its 
name  from  the  large  and  ancient  mansion  of  the 
Harcourts,  of  which,  however,  but  little  remains. 
Pope  passed  the  greater  part  of  two  summers  in 
the  deserted  house  in  a  tower  that  bears  his  name, 
and  where  he  wrote  the  fifth  volume  of  his  transla- 
tion of  Homer  in  the  topmost  room  :  he  recorded 
the  fact  on  a  pane  of  glass  in  the  window  in  1718, 
and  this  pane  has  been  carefully  preserved.  The 
kitchen  of  the  strange  old  house  still  remains,  and 
is  a  remarkable  one,  being  described  as  "  either  a 
kitchen  within  a  chimney  or  a  kitchen  without  one." 
In  the  lower  part  this  kitchen  is  a  large  square  room  ;  above  it  is  octangular 


DOVECOTE,  STANTON    HAUCOUUT. 


/fAKCOURT  AXD    Ci'MXOK    HALL. 


and  ascends  like  a  tower,  the  fires  being  made  against  the  walls,  and  the  smoke 
climbing  up  them  until  it  reaches  the  conical  apex,  where  it  goes  out  of  loop- 
holes on  any  side  according  to  the  wind.  The  distance  from  the  floor  to  the 
apex  is  about  sixty  feet,  and  the  interior  is  thickly  coated  with  soot.  The  fire- 
places are  large  enough  to  roast  an  ox  whole. 

Not  far  from  the  ferry,  in  Berkshire,  is  the  ancient  manor-house  of  Cumnor 
Hall,  sacred  to  the  melancholy  memory  of  poor  Amy  Robsart.     She  was  the 
wife  of  Dudley,   Earl  of   Leicester,  and  when  his  ambition  led  him  to  seek 
Queen  Elizabeth's  hand  it  was  necessary  to  get  her  out  of  the  way.     So  he 
sent  Amy  to  Cumnor, 
where  his  servant  An- 
thony   Forster    lived. 
At    first    poison    was 
tried,  but  she  suspect- 
ed it,  and  would   not 
take  the  potion.  Then, 
sending  all  the  people 
away.  Sir  Richard  Yar- 
ney  and  Forster,  with 
another  man,  strangled, 
her,     and     afterwards 
threw  her  down  stairs, 
breaking  her  neck.    It 


.'• 


•  *» 


CUM NOR    CHURCHYARD. 


was  at  first  given  out 
that  poor  Amy  had 
fallen  by  accident  and 
killed  herself,  but  people  began  to  suspect  differently,  and  tlvj  third  party  to 
the  murder,  being  arrested  for  a  felony  and  threatening  to  tell,  was  privately 
made  away  with  in  prison  by  Leicester's  orders.  Both  Varney  and  Forster 
became  melancholy  before  their  deaths,  and  finally  a  kinswoman  of  the  earl,  on 
her  dying  bed,  told  the  whole  story.  The  earl  had  Amy  buried  with  great 
pomp  at  Oxford,  but  it  is  recorded  that  the  chaplain  by  accident  "tripped  once 
or  twice  in  his  speech  by  recommending  to  their  memories  that  virtuous  lady 
so  pitifully  murdered,  instead  of  saying  pitifully  slain."  Sir  Walter  Scott  has 
woven  her  sad  yet  romantic  story  into  hi:;  tale  of  KenitWorth;  and  to  prove  how 
ambition  overleaps  itself,  we  find  Lord  Burghley,  among  other  reasons  which  he 
urged  upon  the  queen  why  she  should  not  marry  Leicester,  saying  that  "  he  is 
infamed  by  the  murder  of  his  wife."  The  queen  remained  a  virgin  sovereign, 
and  Leicester's  crime  availed  only  to  blacken  his  character. 


142 


A.\D  DESCRIPTIVE. 


FAIR    ROSAMOND. 

The  Thames  flows  on  past  the  wooded  glades  of  Wytham  Abbey,  and  then 
revives  the  memory  of  Fair  Rosamond  as  it  skirts  the  scanty  ruins  of  Godstow 
Nunnery.  This  religious  house  upon  the  river-bank  was  founded  in  the  reign 

of  Henry  I.,  and  the  ruins  are  some 
remains  of  the  walls  and  of  a  small 
chapter-house  in  which  Rosamond's 
corpse  was  deposited.  It  was  at  Wood- 
stock, in  Oxfordshire,  then  a  royal 
palace,  that  in  the  twelfth  century 
Henry  II.  built  "Fair  Rosamond's 
Bower"  for  his  charmer,  who  was  the 
daughter  of  Lord  Clifford.  This  bower 
was  surrounded  by  a  labyrinth.  Queen 
Eleanor,  whom  the  king  had  married 
only  from  ambitious  motives,  was  much 
older  than  he,  and  he  had  two  sons  by 
Rosamond,  whom  he  is  said  to  have 
first  met  at  Godstow  Nunnery.  The 
bower  consisted  of  arched  vaults  underground.  There  are  various  legends 
of  the  discovery  of  Rosamond  by  Fleanor,  the  most  popular  being  that  the 
queen  discovered  the  ball  of  silk  the  king  used  to  thread  the  maze  of  the 
labyrinth,  and  following  it  found  the  door  and  entered  the  bovver.  She  is  said 
to  have  ill-treated  and  even  poisoned  Rosamond,  but  the  belief  now  is  that 
Rosamond  retired  to  the  nunnery  from  sorrow  at  the  ultimate  defection  of  her 
royal  lover,  and  did  not  die  for  several  years.  The  story  has  been  the  favorite 
theme  of  the  poets,  and  we  are  told  that  her  body  was  buried  in  the  nunnery 
and  wax  lights  placed  around  the  tomb  and  kept  continually  burning.  Subse- 
quently, her  remains  were  reinterred  in  the  chapter-house,  with  a  Latin  inscrip- 
tion, which  is  thus  translated  : 

"  This  tomb  doth  here  enclose  the  world's  most  beauteous  rose- 
Rose  passing  sweet  erewhile,  now  naught  but  odor  vile." 


OXFORD. 

quiet  Thames    the 


As  we  float    along    the    quiet  Thames    the    stately    towers  and    domes    of 
the  university  city  of  Oxford  come  in  sight,  and  appear  to  suddenly  rise  from 
behind  a  green  railway  embankment.     Here  the  Cherwell  flows  along  the  Christ 
Jhurch  meadows  to  join  the  great  river,  and  we  pause  at  the  ancient  Ousen- 
ford— or  the  ford  over  the  Ouse  or  Water— a  name  which  time  has  changed 


OXFORD. 


to  Oxford.  The  origin  of  the  famous  university  is  involved  in  obscurity.  The 
city  is  mentioned  as  the  scene  of  important  political  and  military  events  from 
the  time  of  King  Alfred,  but  the  first  undisputed  evidence  that  it  was  a  seat  of 
learning  dates  from  the  twelfth  century.  Religious  houses  existed  there  in  ear- 
lier years,  and  to  these  schools  were  attached  for  the  education  of  the  clergy. 
From  these  schools  sprang  the  secular  institutions  that  finally  developed  into 
colleges,  and  common  interest  led  to  the  association  from  which  ultimately  came 
the  university.  The  first  known  application  of  the  word  to  this  association 
occurs  in  a  statute  of  King  John.  In  the  thirteenth  century  there  were  three 


M  UiDALEX   COLLEGE,  FROM    THE   CHERWELL. 


thousand  students  at  Oxford,  and  Henry  III.  granted  the  university  its  first 
charter.  In  those  early  times  the  university  grew  in  wealth  and  numbers,  and 
intense  hostility  was  developed  between  the  students  and  townspeople,  leading 
to  the  quarrels  between  "  Town  and  Ciown  "  that  existed  for  centuries,  and 
caused  frequent  riots  and  bloodshed.  A  penance  for  one  of  these  disturb- 
ances, which  occurred  in  1355  and  sacrificed  several  lives,  continued  to  be 
kept  until  1825.  The  religious  troubles  in  Henry  VIII. 's  time  reduced  the 
students  to  barely  one  thousand,  but  a  small  part  of  whom  attended  the  col- 
leges, so  that  in  1546  only  thirteen  degrees  were  conferred.  In  1603  the  uni- 
versity was  given  representation  in  Parliament ;  it  was  loyal  to  Charles  I.,  and 
melted  its  plate  to  assist  him,  so  that  after  his  downfall  it  was  plundered,  and 


AAU/..-/.VA  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


Iff 


DORMER    WINDOW,   MERTON 
COLLEGE. 


almost  ceased  to  have  an  existence  as  an  insti- 
tution of  learning ;  it  has  since  had  a  quiet  and 
generally  prosperous  history.  The  university 
comprises  twenty-one  colleges,  the  oldest  being 
University  College,  founded  in  1249,  and  the 
youngest  the  Keble  Me- 
morial College,  founded 
in  1870.  University  Col 
lege,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, represents  a  school 
founded  by  King  Alfred 
in  872,  and  it  celebrated 
its  millennial  anniversary 
in  1872.  Balliol  College, 
founded  between  1263 
and  1268,  admits  no  one 
who  claims  any  privilege 
on  account  of  rank  or 
wealth,  and  is  regarded 

as  having  perhaps  the  highest  standard  of  schol- 
J  arship  at  Oxford.     Christ  Church  College  is  the 

STONK  PULPIT,  MAGDALEN  COLLEGE,  most  extensive  in  buildings,  numbers,  and  endow- 
ments, and  is  a  cathedral  establishment  as  well  as  col- 
lege. There  are  now  about  eighty-five  hundred  mem- 
bers of  the  university  and  twenty-five  hundred  under- 
graduates. The  wealth  of  some 
of  the  colleges  is  enormous,  and 
they  are  said  to  own  altogether 
nearly  two  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  and  to  have 
about  $2,100,000  annual  revenues, 
of  which  they  expend  not  over 
$1,500,000,  the  remainder  accu- 
mulating. They  also  have  in 
their  gift  four  hundred  and  forty- 
four  benefices,  with  an  annual  in- 
come of  $050,000.  It  costs  a  stu- 

GABLE    AT    ST.  ALDATE  S 

COLLEGE.  dent  about  $i  200  to  $i  500  a  year 


1IONV    WINDOW,   MAGDALEN 
COLLEGE. 


///A'    OXJ-'OKD    COLLEGES. 


to  live  at  Oxford,  and 
about  $325  in  university 
and  college  fees  from 
matriculation  to  gradua.- 
tion,  when  he  gets  his 
degree  of  B.  A.,  or,  if  in- 
attentive, fails  to  pass  the 
examination,  and,  in  Ox- 
ford parlance,  is  said  to 
be  "plucked." 

THE   OXFORD    COLLEGES. 

The  enumeration  of  the 
colleges  which  make  up 
the  university  will  nat- 
urally begin  with  the 
greatest,  Christ  Church, 
founded  by  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey,  of  which  the  principal 
facade  extends  four  hun- 
dred feet  along  St.  Al- 
date's  Street,  and  has  a 
noble  gateway  in  the  cen- 
tre surmounted  by  a  six- 
sided  tower  with  a  dome- 
like roof.  Here  hangs  the 
great  bell  of  Oxford,  "  Old 
Tom,"  weighing  seven- 
teen thousand  pounds, 
which  every  night,  just 
after  nine  o'clock,  strikes 
one  hundred  and  one 
strokes,  said  to  be  in  re- 
membrance of  the  num- 
ber of  members  the  col- 
lege had  at  its  foundation. 
Wolsey's  statue  stands  in 
the  gateway  which  leads 
into  tne  great  quadrangle, 

19 


GATEWAY    OF   CHRIST    rHURfll    COM.KCK. 


146 


/•:.\\;/..-i.\7>,  PICTURESQUE  AXD  DESCRIPTITK. 


MKRTON  coi.i.F.r,:- 


called  by  the  students,  for  short,  "Tom 
Quad."  Here  are  the  lodgings  of  the 
dean  and  canons,  and  also  the  Great 
Hall,  the  finest  in  Oxford,  and  the 
room  where  the  sovereign  is  received 
whenever  visiting  the  city.  The  an- 
cient kitchen  adjoins  the  hall,  and  near 
by  is  the  entrance  to  the  cathedral, 
which  has  been  restored,  and  the  an- 
cient cloisters.  From  the  buildings  a 
meadow  extends  down  to  the  rivers, 
the  Cherwell  on  the  left  and  the 
Thames  (here  called  the  Isis)  on  the 
right,  which  join  at  the  lower  part  of 
the  meadow.  Beautiful  walks  are  laid 
out  upon  it,  including  the  famous  Ox- 
ford promenade,  the  Broad  Walk,  a 
stately  avenue  of  elms  bordering  one 
side  of  the  meadow.  Here,  on  the 

afternoon  ol   Show  Sunday,  which  comes  immediately  before  Commemoration 

Day,  nearly  all  the  members  of  the   university  and  the  students,  in  academic 

costume,   make  a  promenade,   presenting  an  animated   scene. 
Corpus  Christ!  College  was  founded  by  Bishop 

Fox  of  Winchester  in  1516,  and  its  quadrangle. 

which   remains  much  as  at  the  foundation,  con- 
tains the  founder's  statue,  and  also  a  remarkable 

dial,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a  perpetual  calendar. 

This  college  is  not  very  marked  in  architecture. 

It  stands  at  the  back  of  Christ  Church,  and  ad- 
joining it  is   Merton  College,  founded  in  1264  by 

Walter  de  Merton.     His  idea  was  to  forbid  the 

students  following  in  after  life  any  other  pursuit  -  EJJ 

than  that  of  parish  priest.     The  chapel  of  Merton 

is  one  of  the  finest  in   Oxford,  and  its  massive 

tower  is  a  city  landmark.     The  entrance-gateway, 

surmounted  by  a  sculptured  representation  of  St. 

John  the  Baptist,  is  atti  active,  and  the  two  college 

quadrangles  are  picturesque,  the  "  Mob   Quad," 

or  library  quadrangle,  being  five  hundred  years         GATEWAY,  MERTON  COLLEGE. 


THE    OXFORD    COLLEGES. 


•47 


.old,  with  the  Treasury  and  its  high-pitched  ashlar  roof  and  dormer  windows 
above  one  of  the  entrance-passages.  St.  Alban  Hall,  built  about  1230,  adjoins 
Merton,  and  is  a  Gothic  structure  with  a  curious  old  bell-tower.  Oriel  College 
stands  opposite  Corpus  Christi,  but  the  ancient  buildings  of  the  foundation  in 
1324-26  have  all  been  superseded  by  comparatively  modern  structures  of  the 
seventeenth  century:  though  without  any  striking  architectural  merits,  the 
hall  and  chapel  of  this  college  are  extremely  picturesque.  Its  fame  is  not  so 
much  from  its  buildings  as  from  some  of  its  fellows,  Whately,  Keble,  Wilber- 
force,  Newman,  Pusey,  and  Arnold 
having  been  among  them.  St.  Mary's 
Hall,  an  offshoot  founded  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  stands  near  this  col- 
lege. All  Souls  College  is  on  the 
High  Street,  and  was  founded  in 
1437,  its  buildings  being,  however, 
modern,  excepting  one  quadrangle. 
In  the  chapel  is  a  magnificent  rere- 
dos,  presented  by  Lord  Bathurst, 
who  was  a  fellow  of  All  Souls,  and 
containing  figures  representing  most 
of  the  fellows  of  his  time  ;  in  the 
library  are  Wren's  original  designs 
for  building  St.  Paul's.  This  col- 
lege was  founded  by  Archbishop 
Chichele  for  "the  hele  of  his  soul" 
and  of  the  souls  of  all  those  who 
perished  in  the  French  wars  of  King 
Henry  V. ;  hence  its  name.  We 
are  told  that  the  good  archbishop  was  much  troubled  where  to  locate  his  col- 
lege, and  there  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  a  "  right  godly  personage,"  who 
advised  him  to  build  it  on  the  High  Street,  and  at  a  certain  spot  where  he 
would  be  sure  in  digging  to  find  a  "mallard,  imprisoned  but  well  fattened,  in 
the  sewer."  He  hesitated,  but  all  whom  he  consulted  advised  him  to  make  the 
trial,  and  accordingly,  on  a  fixed  day  after  mass,  with  due  solemnity  the  digging 
began.  They  had  not  dug  long,  the  story  relates,  before  they  heard  "  amid  the 
earth  horrid  strugglings  and  flutterings  and  violent  quackings  of  the  distressed 
mallard."  When  he  was  brought  out  he  was  as  big  as  an  ostrich,  and  "  much 
wonder  was  thereat,  for  the  lycke  had  not  been  seen  in  this  londe  nor  in  onie 
odir."  The  Festival  of  the  Mallard  was  long  held  in  commemoration  of  this 


ORIEL    COLLF.GE. 


ENGLAND,  riCTl'RESOUE  AMI 


event,  at  which  was  sung  the  "Merry  Song  of  the  All  Souls  Mallard,"  be- 
ginning— 

"Griffin,   bustard,  turkey,  capon, 
Let  other  hungry  mortals  gape  on, 
And  on  the  bones  their  stomach  fill  haul  ; 
Hut  let  All  Souls   men  have  their  mallard. 

Oh,  by  the  blood  of  King  Edward, 

It  was  a  wopping,  wopping  mallard  !" 

While  the  festival  has  passed  away,  the  song  is  still  sung  at  Oxford,  and  the 
tale  has  given  rise  to  much  literature,  there  having  been  vigorous  contests 
waged  over  the  authenticity  of  the  mallard. 

University  College,  also  on  the  High  Street,  though  the  earliest  founded, 
now  has  no  building  older  than  the  seventeenth  century.  It  has  an  imposing 
Gothic  front  with  two  tower-gateways,  while  the  recently  constructed  New 
Building  is  an  elegant  structure  erected  in  1850.  Queen's  College,  founded 
in  1341  by  Queen  Philippa's  confessor,  and  hence  its  name,  is  a  modern  build- 
ing by  Wren  and  his  pupils.  St.  Edmund  Hall,  opposite  Queen's  College,  is  a 
plain  building,  but  with  magnificent  ivy  on  its  walls. 

MAGDALEN    AND    BRASENOSE. 

Bishop  Patten  of  Winchester,  who  was  surnamed  Waynflete,  founded  Mag- 
dalen College  in  1458.  It  stands  by  the  side  of  the  Cherwell,  and  its  graceful 
tower,  nearly  four  hundred  years  old,  rises  one  hundred  and  forty-five  feet— one 

of  the  most  beautiful  constructions  in 
Oxford.  Its  quadrangles  are  fine,  es- 
pecially the  one  known  as  the  Cloisters, 
which  remains  much  as  it  was  in  the 
time  of  the  founder,  and  is  ornamented 
with  rude  sandstone  statues  erected  in 
honor  of  a  visit  from  King  James  I.  In 
accordance  with  ancient  custom,  on  the 
morning  of  the  first  of  May,  just  as  five 

^^^^^^  o'clock   strikes,  a  solemn   Te   Deum  is 

sung  on  the  top  of  Magdalen  Tower 

MAGDALEN'    COLLEGE    CLOISTERS.  1  1 

where  the  choristers  assemble  in  sur- 
plices and  with  uncovered  heads.  When  it  closes  the  crowd  on  the  ground 
below  give  out  discordant  blasts  from  myriads  of  tin  horns,  but  the  Magdalen 
chime  of  bells,  said  to  be  "the  most  tunable  and  melodious  ring  of  bells  in  all 
these  parts  and  beyond,"  soon  drowns  the  discord,  and  gives  a  glad  welcome 


M AGO ALEX  AXD   BRASEXOSE. 


I49 


to  the  opening  of  spring.  This  custom  survives  from  the  time  of  Henry  Y1L, 
and  the  produce  of  two  acres  of  land  given  to  the  college  by  that  king  is  used 
to  pay  for  a  feast  for  the  choristers,  spread  later  in  the  day  in  the  college  hall. 
The  college  has  a  meadow  and 
small  deer-park  attached,  known 
as  the  Magdalen  Walks,  and 
encircled  by  the  arms  of  the 
Cherwell,  while  avenues  of  trees 
along  raised  dykes  intersect  it. 
The  avenue  on  the  north  side 
of  this  meadow  is  known  as 
"  Adtlison's  Walk,"  and  was 
much  frequented  by  him  when 
at  this  college.  The  little  deer- 
park,  a  secluded  spot,  abounds 
with  magnificent  elms.  It  was 
at  Magdalen  that  Wolsey  was 
educated,  being  known  as  the 
"  Boy  Bachelor,"  as  he  got  his 
B.  A.  degree  at  the  early  age 
of  fifteen.  The  Botanic  Garden 
is  opposite  Magdalen  College, 
having  a  fine  gateway  with 
statues  of  Charles  I.  and  II. 
Magdalen  College  School,  a 
modern  building,  but  an  or- 
ganization coeval  with  the  col- 
lege, is  a  short  distance  to  the 
westward. 

The  King's  Hall,  commonly 
known  as  Brasenose  College, 
and  over  the  entrance  of  which 

a    prominent    brazen    nose, 
its   chief 


Is 


buildings 


FOUNDER  S    TOWER,    MAGDALEN 


still  retains 

as  originally  founded  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  and  Sir  Richard  Sutton  in  1512. 
The  entrance-tower  was  recently  restored,  and  the  rooms  occupied  by  Bishop 
Heber,  who  was  a  member  of  this  college,  are  still  pointed  out,  with  their  win- 
dows looking  upon  a  large  horse-chestnut  tree  in  the  adjoining  Fxeter  Gardens. 
This  famous  college  is  said  to  occupy  the  spot  where  King  Alfred's  palace  stood, 


150 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


and  hence  its  name  of  the  King's  Hall,  which  the  king  in  his  laws  styled  his 
palace.  The  part  of  the  palace  which  was  used  for  the  brew-house,  or  the 
brasinivm,  afterwards  became  the  college,  and  as  early  as  Edward  1.  this  found 
ocular  demonstration  by  the  fixing  of  a  brazen  nose  upon  the  gate.  This  is 
also  a  relic  of  Friar  Bacon's  brazen  head.  We  are  told  that  this  famous  friar, 
who  lived  at  Oxford  in  the  thirteenth  century,  became  convinced,  "after  great 
study,"  that  if  he  should  succeed  in  making  a  head  of  brass  which  could  speak, 

"  he  might  be  able  to 
surround  all  England 
with  a  wall  of  brass." 
So,  with  the  assistance 
of  another  friar  and  the 
devil,  he  went  to  work 
and  accomplished  it,  but 
with  the  drawback  that 
the  brazen  head  when 
finished  was  "  warranted 
to  speak  in  the  course 
of  one  month,"  but  it 
was  uncertain  just  when 
it  would  speak,  and  "  if 
they  heard  it  not  before 
it  had  done  speaking,  all 
their  labor  would  be 
lost."  They  watched  it 
three  weeks,  but  fatigue 

overmastered  them,  and 

i>  i  • 

Bacon  set  his  servant  on 


odcuii  set  nis  servant  on 
"'^-&  I    watcn>    with    orders    to 

•-Z&ig&f.  /?M*  ^    awaken  them  if  the  head 


HAOUALEN  COLLEGE. 


should  speak.  At  the 
end  of  one  half  hour  the  fellow  heard  the  head  say,  "Time  is;"  at  the  end  of 
another,  "Time  was;"  and  at  the  end  of  a  third  half  hour,  "Time's  past,"  when 
down  fell  the  head  with  a  tremendous  crash.  The  blockhead  thought  his  mas- 
ter would  be  angry  if  disturbed  by  such  trifles,  and  this  ended  the  experiment 
with  the  brazen  head.  Yet  Friar  Bacon  was  a  much  wiser  man  than  would  be 
supposed  by  those  who  only  know  him  from  this  tale.  He  was  esteemed  the 
most  learned  man  ever  at  the  great  university,  and  it  is  considered  doubtful 
if  any  there  in  later  years  surpassed  him. 


COLLEGE  AXD   RADCLIFFE   LIKRARY. 


NKW    COLLEGE    AND    RADCLIFFE    LIBRARY. 

William  of  Wykeham  founded  the  New  College,  or  the  College  of  St.  Mary 
Winton,  in  1380.  It  has  a  noble  entrance,  and  in  a  niche  above  the  gateway 
is  the  Virgin,  to  whom  an  angel  and  the  founder  are  addressing  themselves  in 


prayer.    The  chapel  has  a  massive  detach 

ed  bell-tower,  and  in  its  windows  are  some 

fine  stained  glass,  while  the  silver  staff  of 

William  of   Wykeham  is    still    preserved 

there.     The    cloisters   are   extensive   and 

picturesque,  the  ribbed  roof  resembling  the  bottom  of  a  boat,  while  the  restored 

hall  has  a  fine  oaken  roof.     The  New  College  gardens  are  enclosed  on  three 

sides  by  the  ancient  walls  of  the  city,  which  are  well  preserved,  and  the  enclo- 


'52 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


sure  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  Oxford.  Through 
a  door  in  a  corner  of  the  gardens  there  is  a  passa^e- 
way  opening  out  of  one  of  the  bastions  of  the  old 
walls  into  a  strip  of  ground  called  the  "  Slype,"  where 
a  fine  view  is  had  of  the  bastions,  with  the  college  bell- 
tower  and  chapel  behind  them.  In  making  a  recent 
addition  to  the  buildings  of  this  college  on  the  edge 
of  the  "  Slype,"  the  workmen  in  digging  for  the  founda- 
tions discovered  the  remains  of  a  mammoth. 

New  College  Lane  leads  to  Radcliffe  Square,  in  the 


NEW    COLLEGE. 


centre  of   which   is 
located    the    hand- 
some  Radcliffe  Li- 
brary, with  colleges, 
churches,       and 
schools   all   around 
the     square.        Dr. 
Radcliffe,  who    \vas 
the  court- physician 
of  King  William  III. 
and    Oueen    Anne, 
founded  this  library, 
which  is  in  a  hand- 
some rotunda  sur 
mounted  by  a  dome 
on  an  octagonal 
base.       The    struc- 
ture,  which  is   one 
hundred  feet  in  diameter,  rise:; 
to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  feet,  and  from  the  top  there 
is  a  fine  view  of  the  city.     To  the 
northward,   at    a   short  distance,   are 
the  Schools,  a  quadrangular  building. 
now  chiefly  occupied  by  the   famous 
Bodleian    Library.       I'Yom    Radcliffe 


•HIE  KAIX  I.II--KI:   LIUKARY,  FROM  THE  QUADRANGLE 
OF  BRASEXOSK. 


.\7-:iI'  COLLEGE  AXn   KADCL/FFE  LIBRARY. 


'53 


Square  the  entrance  is  through  a  vaulted  passage,  the 
central  gate-tower  being  a  remarkable  example  of  the 
combination  of  the  five  orders  of  architecture  piled  one 
above  the  other.  In  this  building,  on  the  lower  floor, 
the  public  examinations  of  the  candidates  for  degrees 
are  held,  while  above  is  the  library  which  Sir  Thomas 
Bodley  founded  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  which 
contains  three  hundred  thousand  volumes,  including 
many  ancient  and  highly-prized  works  in  print  and 
manuscript. 

Lincoln  College  was  founded  by  Richard  Flemyng, 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in   1427.      Here  John  Wesley  was  a 

member,     and     the 


pulpit  from  which 
he  preached  is  still 
kept  as  a  precious 


niNING-II.U.L    EXETER   COL- 
LEGE. 


relic. 


Opposite    to 

Lincoln  is  Jesus  College,  founded  by 
Queen  Elizabeth  in  1571,  though  others 
assisted ;  it  was  intended  to  be  exclu- 
sively for  Welshmen,  but  this  has  since 
been  changed.  The  chapel  has  a  double 
chancel.  Alongside  of  Lincoln  is  Exeter 
College,  founded  by  Walter  Stapleton  of 
Exeter  in  1314;  this  is  one  of  the  largest 
colleges,  the  greater  part  of  the  buildings 
being  modern  ;  they  are  among  the  finest 
in  Oxford.  The  hall,  restored  in  the  pres- 
ent century,  has  a  high-pitched  timber  roof, 
while  the  chapel,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  edifices  in  Oxford,  has  a  thin. 
small  spire  that  is  conspicuous  from  a  great 
distance.  The  Ashmolean  Museum  adjoins 
Exeter  College,  and  next  to  this  is  the  Shel- 
donian  Theatre,  built  in  1 669  by  Archbishop 
Sheldon  of  Canterbury,  where  the  annual 
commemoration  is  held  and  the  honorary 
degrees  are  conferred.  Not  far  away  is 
Wadham  College,  founded  in  1613  by  Nich- 
olas Wadham  and  Dorothy  his  wife.  It  has 


154 


/•:.\GI.A\J),  PICTURESQUE  A.\D   DESCRIPTIVE. 


r-- 


excellent  buildings  and  a  most  beautiful  garden.  There  is  a  new  Museum  of 
Natural  History  in  the  park  near  by,  and  also  Keble  College,  founded  in  1868 
as  a  memorial  of.  Rev.  John  Keble,  the  author  of  the  Christian  Year.  Its 
buildings  are  of  variegated  brick,  the  chapel  being  the  loftiest,  most  costly, 
and  finest  of  its  style  in  Oxford.  The  building  is  a  perfect  glare  of  coloring. 

Trinity  College  was  founded  in  1554  by  Sir  Thomas 
Pope.  Its  tower  and  chapel  are  Grecian,  and  the 
chapel  has  a  most  beautiful  carved  screen  and  altar- 
piece.  The  library  contains  a  chalice  that  once  be- 
longed to  St.  Alban's  Abbey.  Kettel  Hall,  now  a 
private  dwelling,  is  a  picturesque  building  in  front  of 
Trinity.  On  Broad  Street,  where  Trinity  stands,  is  also 
Balliol  College,  founded  in  the  thirteenth  century  by 
John  Balliol.  None  of  the  existing  buildings  are  earlier 
than  the  fifteenth  century,  while  the  south  front,  with  its 
massive  tower,  has  just  been  rebuilt.  It  was  here  that 
the  martyrs  Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  Ridley  were  burned. 
A  little  farther  along  the  same  street  is  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, which  Sir  Thomas  White  founded  in  1557.  It  is 
fronted  by  a  terrace  planted  with  fine  elms.  Its  quad- 
rangles and  cloisters  are  much  admired,  especially  the 
venerable  oriel  windows  and  quaint  stone  gables  of  the 
library.  St.  John's  gardens  are  regarded  as  among  the 
most  attractive  in  Oxford.  Opposite  St.  John's  are  the  university 
galleries,  with  their  display  of  the  Pomfret  Marbles  and  Raphael  and 
Michel  Angelo's  paintings  and  drawings,  and  behind  this  building  is 
Worcester  College,  founded  in  1714  by  Sir  Thomas  Cookes. 
Its  gardens  contain  a  lake.  Pembroke  College  is  opposite 
Christ  Church,  and  was  founded  in  1624  in  honor  of  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  then  the  chancellor  of  the  university. 
While  its  entrance-gateway  and  hall,  recently  built,  are  fine, 
the  other  buildings  are  not  attractive.  The  chief  remem- 
brance of  Pembroke  is  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  who  oc- 
cupied apartments  over  the  original  gateway,  but  was 
compelled  by  poverty  to  leave  the  college  before  taking 
his  degree.  This  completes  the  description  of  the  col- 
leges, halls,  and  schools  of  the  great  university,  which  presents  an  array  of 
institutions  of  learning  unrivalled  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  of  which  Eng- 
lishmen are  justly  proud. 


WINDOW  IN  si.  JOHN'S  coi.- 

I.KGE,    GAKIJtN    KKONT. 


TOWER   ST.    JOHN  S    COLLEGE. 


OXFORD    CHURCHES  AND    CASTLE. 


155 


OXFORD    CHURCHES    AND    CASTLE. 

There  are  some  fine  churches  in  Oxford,  notably  the  university 
St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  conspicuous 
from  its  Decorated  spire  rising 
one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  feet, 
which  is  a  memorial  of  Queen 
Eleanor  of  Castile.  A  short  dis- 
tance to  the  westward  is  All  Saints 
Church.  Fronting  Christ  Church 
is  St.  Aldate's  Church,  also  with 
a  lofty  spire  and  Decorated  tower. 
Like  most  English  towns,  Oxford 
had  a  castle,  but  its  remains  are 
now  reduced  to  a  solitary  tower, 
a  few  fragments  of  wall,  and  a 
high  mound.  This  castle  has 
long  been  the  property  of  Christ 
Church,  and  was  used  for  a  prison, 
whence  Cranmer  and  his  fellow- 
martyrs  went  to  the  stake.  The 
old  tower  was  built  in  the  days 
of  William  Rufus.  Beneath  the 
ruins  is  a  crypt  known  as  Maud's 
Chapel.  In  the  centre  of  the  mound 
is  an  octagonal  vaulted  chamber, 
approached  by  a  long  flight  of  steps, 
and  containing  a  well.  It  was  in 
this  castle  that  the  empress  Maud 
was  besieged  by  King  Stephen  in 
1141,  but  escaped  in  the  night,  the 
castle  surrendering  next  morning. 
The  ground  was  covered  with  snow 
at  the  time,  and  the  empress,  with 
three  attendants,  clad  in  white, 
passed  unnoticed  through  the  lines 
of  the  besiegers  and  crossed  the 
Thames  on  the  ice.  Just  before 
this  Maud  escaped  from  the  castle 


church  of 


156 


!•:. \GLA.\F>,  PICTURESQUE  AXD    DESCRIPTIVE. 


of  Devizes  as  a  dead  body  drawn  on  a  hearse.    The  castle  of  Oxford  has  been 
in   a  dilapidated   condition  since   Edward   III. 's  time.     As  an   evidence  of  the 

change  of  opinion,  the  Martyrs' 
Memorial  stands  on  St.  Giles 
Street  in  honor  of  the  martyrs 
who  found  the  old  tower  of  the 
castle  their  prison-house  until  the 
bigots  of  that  day  were  ready  to 
burn  them  at  the  stake  in  front 
of  Balliol  College. 

The  intersection  of  the  four  prin- 
cipal streets  of  old  Oxford  makes 
what  is  called  the  Carfax  (a  word 
derived  from  quatre  roics],  and 
here  in  the  olden  time  stood  a 
picturesque  conduit.  Conduits  in 
former  years  were  ornaments  in 
many  English  towns,  and  some 
of  them  still  remain  in  their  orio-- 

o 

inal  locations.  This  conduit,  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  traffic,  was  pre- 
sented as  a  nuisance  as  long  ago 
as  the  time  of  Laud,  and  Lord 
Harcourt  in  1787  removed  it  to 
his  park  at  Nuneham.  One  of 
the  curious  changes  that  have 
come  over  some  Oxford  land- 
marks is  related  of  a  group  of 
statues  in  the  entrance  to  the 
Schools,  where  the  Bodleian  Li- 
brary is  located.  This  group  rep- 
resents Mater  Academia  giving  a 
book  to  King  James  I.,  sitting  in 
his  chair  of  state,  while  winged 
Fame  trumpets  the  gift  through- 
out the  world.  When  the  king 
saw  this,  embellished  with  appro- 

SAINTS,  FROM  HIGH  STREET.  priate  mottoes,  all  of  which  were 

gloriously  gilt,  the  ancient  historian  says  he  exclaimed,  "  By  my  soul !  this  is  'too 


OATOKf)    CHURCHES  AMI    CASTLE. 


glorious  for  Jeamy,"  and 
caused  the  gilded  mottoes 
to  be  "  whited  out."  Orig- 
inally, the  statue  of  the 
king  held  a  sceptre  in  his 
right  hand,  and  a  book, 
commonly  taken  for  the 
Bible,  in  his  left.  Both 
have  disappeared.  The 
sceptre  is  said  to  have 
fallen  upon  the  passing 
of  the  Reform  Bill,  and  the 
book  came  down  about  the 
time  of  the  abolition  of  the 
University  Tests.  The  east- 
ern part  of  Oxford  is  mea- 
dow- and  garden-land,  ex- 
tending down  to  the  two 
famous  rivers  which  unite 
just  below  the  town,  and 
along  whose  shores  the  CARFAX  CONDUIT. 

racing-boats  in  \vhich  the  students  take  so  much  interest  are  moored.     Pretty 
bridges  span  both  streams,  and  we  follow  down  the  Thames  again,  skirting 

^  _  along  its  picturesque   shores   past   Iffley,   with   its 

romantic  old  mill  and  the  ancient  church  with  its 
square  tower  rising  behind,  well-known  landmarks 
that  are  so  familiar  to  boating-men,  till  we  come  to 
Xuneham  Park,  with  the  old  Carfax  Conduit  set  on 
an  eminence,  and  Blenheim  Woods  looming  up  in 
the  background,  as  we  look  towards  Oxford. 

The  church  of  Iffley  is  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Thames,  but  little  is  known  of  its  origin  or  history. 
It  was  in  existence  in  1189,  when  King  Henry  II. 
died,  and  its  architecture  indicates  that  it  could 
scarcely  have  been  built  much  before  that  time. 
It  is  an  unusually  good  specimen  of  the  Norman 
style,  and  is  in  wonderful  preservation,  considering 
its  age.  This  church  is  peculiarly  rich  in  its  door- 
ways, having  three  of  great  value,  and  each  differ- 


: 


IFFLEY    MILL. 


ENGLAND,  1'ICTURESQl'E  .l.\7>   DESCRIPTIVE. 


,  -•*..  -  -i  •  • 


ing 


from  the  other.  The 
southern  doorway  is  enrich- 
ed with  sculptured  Flowers,  a 
style  that  is  almost  unique  in 
Norman  architecture  ;  it  also 
contains  rudely  carved  imita- 
tions of  Roman  centaurs.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  church 
is  an  ancient  cross  and  one 
of  the  most  venerable  yew 
trees  in  the  kingdom,  in  the 
trunk  of  which  time  has  made 
a  hollow  where  a  man  could 
easily  conceal  himself.  There 
is  not  on  all  the  Thames  a 
scene  more  loved  by  artists 
than  that  at  Iffley,  with  its  old 
mill  and  church  embosomed 
in  foliage,  and  having  an  oc- 
casional fisherman  lazily  ang- 
ling in  the  smooth  waters  be- 
fore them,  while  the  Oxford 
oarsmen,  some  in  fancy  cos- 
tumes, paddle  by. 


1KFI.KV    CHURCH. 


BANBURY    AND     BROUGHTON. 

If  we  go  up  the  Cherwell  towards  the  northern  part  of  Oxfordshire,  a 
brief  visit  can  be  paid  to  the  famous  town  of  Banbury,  noted  for  its  "castle, 
cross,  and  cakes."  This  was  an  ancient  Roman  station,  and  the  amphitheatre 
still  exists  just  out  of  town.  The  castle  was  built  in  the  twelfth  century,  and 
many  conflicts  raged  around  it.  Queen  Elizabeth  granted  the  castle  to  Lord 
Saye  and  Sele,  and  one  of  his  successors  first  organized  the  revolt  against 
Charles  I.  at  his  neighboring  mansion  of  Broughton.  Banbury  was  a  great 
Puritan  stronghold,  and  it  is  related  that  when  a  book  descriptive  of  Banbury 
was  being  printed  in  those  days,  it  contained  a  sentence  describing  Banbury  as 
remarkable  for  its  cheese,  cakes,  and  ale.  One  Camden,  looking  at  the  press 
while  the  sheet  was  being  printed,  thought  this  too  light  an  expression,  and 
changed  the  word  ale  into  zeal,  so  that  the  town  became  noted  for  Banbury 


.L\7> 


159 


zeal  as  well  as  cheese  and  cakes.  The  old  castle,  after  standing  several  des- 
perate sieges,  was  demolished  by  the  Puritans,  and  nothing  now  remains  except- 
ing the  moat  and  a  small  remnant  of  wall  on  which  a  cottage  has  been  built. 
The  Banbury  cakes  are  mentioned  as  early  as  1686,  and  they  are  still  in  high 
repute,  being  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  Banbury  cheese  of  which 
Shakespeare  wrote  is  no  longer  made.  The  Banbury  cross  has  been  immor- 
talized in  nursery-rhymes,  but  it  was  taken  down  by  the  Puritans.  The  rhyme 
tells  the  little  folk, 

"  Ride  a  cock-horse  to  Banbury  Cross, 
To  see  a  fine  lady  ride  on  a  white  horse : 
With  rings  on  her  fingers  and  bells  on  her  toes, 
She  shall  have  music  wherever  she  goes." 

Diligent  research  has  developed 
some  important  information  about 
this  fine  lady.  It  appears  that  in 
"the  Second  Edward's  reign  a  knight 
of  much  renown,  yclept  Lord  Her- 
bert, chanced  to  live  near  famous 
Banbury  town."  Now,  this  knight 
had  one  son  left,  an'd  "  fearless 
and  brave  was  he ;  and  it  raised 
the  pride  in  the  father's  heart  his 
gallant  son  to  see."  The  poetic  tale 
goes  on  to  relate  "  that  near  Lord 
Herbert's  ancient  hall  proud  Ban- 
bury  Castle  stood,  within  the  noble 
walls  of  which  dwelt  a  maiden  young 
and  good  ;"  with  much  more  to  the  CROMWELL'S  PARLIAMENT-HOUSE,  BAXBVKY. 

same  effect.  There  is  the  usual  result:  the  knight  loves  the  lady,  has  a 
mortal  combat  with  the  rival,  and  nearly  loses  his  life.  The  fair  lady  nurses 
him  with  care,  but  as  he  gradually  sinks  she  loses  hope  and  pines  away.  A 
holy  monk  lived  in  the  castle,  and,  noticing  her  despondency,  offers  to  effect  a 
cure.  He  prescribes  :  "To-morrow,  at  the  midnight  hour,  go  to  the  cross  alone: 
for  Edward's  rash  and  hasty  deed  perhaps  thou  mayst  atone."  She  goes  there, 
walks  around  the  cross,  and  Edward  is  cured.  Then  all  rejoice,  and  a  festival 
is  ordered,  whereat, 


'  Upon  a  milk-white  steed,  a  lady  doth  appear : 
liy  all  she's  welcomed  lustily  in  one  tremendous  ch_vi  ; 


i6o 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AMI   DESCRIPTIVE. 


With  rings  of  brilliant  lustre  her  fingers  are  bedecked, 
And  bells  upon  her  palfrey  hung  to  give  the  whole  effect." 

A  noble  cavalier  rode  beside  her,  and  the  result  has  been 

"  That  even  in  the  present  time  the  custom's  not  forgot  ; 
But  few  there  are  who  know  the  tale  connected  with  the  spot, 
Though  to  each  baby  in  the  land  the  nursery-rhymes  are  told 
About  the  lady  robed  in  white  and  Banbury  Cross  of  old." 

Broughton  Castle  is  a  fine 
castellated  mansion  a  short 
distance  south-west  of  Ban- 
bury.  It  dates  from  the 
Elizabethan  era,  and  its 
owner,  Viscount  Saye  and 
Sele,  in  Charles  I.'s  reign, 
thinking  that  his  services 
were  not  sufficiently  re- 
warded, took  the  side  of 
Parliament,  in  which  his  son 
represented  Banbury.  When 
the  king  dissolved  Parlia- 
ment, it  assembled  clandes- 
tinely in  Broughton  Castle. 
Here  the  Parliamentary 
leaders  met  in  a  room  with 
thick  walls,  so  that  no  sounds 
could  escape.  Here  also 
were  raised  the  earliest 
troops  for  the  Parliament, 
and  the  "Blue-coats  "  of  the 
Sayes  were  conspicuous  at  the  battle  of  Edgehill,  which  was  fought  only  a  few 
miles  away.  Immediately  afterwards  King  Charles  besieged  Broughton  Castle, 
captured  and  plundered  it.  This  famous  old  building  witnessed  in  this  way 
the  earliest  steps  that  led  to  the  English  Revolution,  and  it  is  kept  in  quite 
good  preservation.  Subsequently,  when  Oliver  Cromwell  became  the  leader 
of  the  Parliamentary  party,  he  held  his  Parliament  in  Banbury  at  the  Roebuck 
Inn,  a  fine  piece  of  architecture,  with  a  great  window  that  lights  up  one  of  the 
best  rooms  in  England  of  the  earlier  days  of  the  Elizabethan  era.  A  low  door 
leads  from  the  courtyard  to  this  noted  council-chamber  where  Cromwell  held 
his  Parliament,  and  it  remains  in  much  the  same  condition  as  then. 


BERKS    AND    WILTS   CANAL. 


U'OODSTOCK  A.\J)   BLENHEIM. 


161 


Through  Oxfordshire  is  laid  out  one  of  those  picturesque  water-ways  of  the 
olden  time — the  Berks  and  Wilts  Canal — which,  though  almost  superseded  by 
the  omnipresent  railway,  still  exists  to  furnish  pretty  scenery  with  its  shady 
towing-paths  and  rustic  swing-bridges.  Almost  the  only  traffic  that  remains 
to  this  canal,  which  comes  out  upon  the  Thames  near  Oxford,  is  carrying 
timber.  The  growth  of  English  timber  is  slow,  but  some  is  still  produced 
by  the  process  of  thinning  the  woods  so  as  to  make  shapely  trees,  for  otherwise 
the  tall  trunks  would  iorce  themselves  up  almost  without  spreading  branches. 

WOODSTOCK    AND    BLENHEIM. 

Not  far  away  from  Oxford  is  the  manor  of  Woodstock,  where  "Fair 
Rosamond's  Bower"  was  built  by  King  Henrv  II.  This  manor  was  an 

J  o  * 

^_   early   residence  of  the    kings   of   England,   and 
Henry  I.   built  a  palace  there,  adding   to  it  a 
vast    park.       Of    this    palace     not    a     sign    is 
now    to    be    seen,    but    two    sycamores    have 
been   planted  to  mark   the   spot.     The  poet 
Chaucer  lived   at   Woodstock,  and   is   sup- 
posed to  have  taken  much  of  the 
descriptive  scenery  of  his   Dream 
from      the      park.        Edward     the 
Black  Prince,  son  of  Edward   III., 
was    born  at   Woodstock.      Henry 
\  II.  enlarged  the  palace,  and  put 
his  name  upon  the  principal  gate  ; 
and   this  gate-house   was    one    of 
the  prisons  of   the    princess   Eliz- 
abeth,   where    she    was    detained 
by  her  sister,  Queen  Mary.     Eliz- 
abeth    is     said     to    .have     written 
with   charcoal    on   a   window-shut- 
ter of  her   apartment,   in    1555,  a 
brief  poem   lamenting  her  impris- 

Ionment.     Her  room  had  an  arched 
roof   formed   of   carved   Irish   oak 
and  colored   with   blue    and  gold, 
CHAUCER'S  HOUSE.  ancj   it  Was  preserved  until    taken 

down  by  Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marlborough.     In  the  Civil  War  the  palace  was 
besieged,  and  after  surrender,  unlike  most  similar  structures,  escaped  demo- 


I  62 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


lition.  Cromwell  allotted  it  to  three  persons,  two  of  whom  pulled  down  their 
portions  for  the  sake  of  the  stone.  Charles  II.  appointed  the  Earl  of  Rochester 
gentleman  of  the  bedchamber  and  comptroller  of  Woodstock  Park,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  here  scribbled  upon  the  door  of  the  bedchamber  of  the  king  the 
well-known  mock  epitaph : 

"  Here  lies  our  sovereign  lord,   the  king, 

Whose  word  no  man  relies  on  ; 
He  never  says  a  foolish  tiling, 
Nor  ever  does  a  wise  one." 

In  Queen  Anne's  reign  Woodstock  was  granted  to  John  Churchill,  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  for  his  eminent  military  services.  The  condition  of  the  grant, 

which  is  still  scrupulously 
performed,  was  that  on  Au- 
gust 2d  in  every  year  he  and 
his  heirs  should  present  to 
the  reigning  monarch  at 
Windsor  Castle  one  stand 
of  colors,  with  three  fleurs- 
de-lis  painted  thereon.  The 
B=  estate  was  named  Blen- 
heim, after  the  little  village 
on  the  Danube  which  was 
the  scene  of  his  greatest 
victory  on  August  2,  i  704. 
Ten  years  later,  the  duchess 
Sarah  took  down  the  re- 
mains of  the  old  palace  of 
Woodstock,  and  Scott  has 
woven  its  history  into  one 
of  his  later  novels.  Hard- 
ly any  trace  remains  of  old 
Woodstock,  and  the  only 
ruin  of  interest  is  a  curious 
chimney-shaft  of  the  fourteenth  century,  which  a  probably  inaccurate  tradition 
says  was  part  of  the  residence  of  the  Black  Prince. 

Woodstock  Park  covers  twenty-seven  hundred  acres,  and  is  nearly  twelve 
miles  in  circuit,  abounding  with  fine  trees  and  having  an  undulating  surface, 
over  which  roam  a  large  herd  of  deer  and  a  number  of  kangaroos.  When  the 


OLD    REMAINS    AT   WOODSTOCK. 


WOODSTOCK  A\D  BLEXHEI.M. 


163 


manor  was  granted  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  Parliament  voted  a  sum  of 
money  to  build  him  a  palace  "as  a  monument  of  his  glorious  actions."  The 
park  is  entered  through  a  fine  Corinthian  gateway,  built  by  the  duchess  Sarah 
in  memory  of  her  husband  the  year  after  his  death.  A  pretty  stream  of  water, 
the  river  Glyme,  with  a  lake,  winds  through  a  valley  in  front  of  the  palace,  and 
is  crossed  by  a  stately  stone  bridge  with  a  centre  arch  of  one  hundred  feet 
span.  Not  far  from  this  bridge  was  Fair  Rosamond's  Bower,  now  marked  by  a 
wall ;  beyond  the  bridge,  standing  on  the  lawn,  is  the  Marlborough  Column,  a 


BLENHEIM    PALACE,    FROM    THE    LAKE. 

fluted  Corinthian  pillar  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet  high,  surmounted  by 
the  hero  in  Roman  dress  and  triumphal  attitude.  This  monument  to  the  great 
duke  has  an  account  of  his  victories  inscribed  on  one  face  of  the  pedestal,  while 
on  the  others  are  the  acts  of  Parliament  passed  in  his  behalf,  and  an  abstract 
of  the  entail  of  his  estates  and  honors  upon  the  descendants  of  his  daughters. 
Parliament  voted  $2,500,000  to  build  Blenheim  Palace,  to  which  the  duke  added 
$300,000  from  his  own  resources.  The  duke  died  seventeen  years  after  the 
palace  was  begun,  leaving  it  unfinished.  We  are  told  that  the  trees  in  the 
park  were  planted  according  to  the  position  of  the  troops  at  Blenheim.  The 


I<54  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


architect  of  the  palace  was  John  Vanbrugh,  of  whom  the  satirical  epitaph  was 
written  : 

"  Lie  heavy  on  him,  Earth,  for  he 
Laid  many  a  heavy  load  on  thee." 

The  palace  is  a  massive  structure,  with  spacious  portals  and  lofty  towers,  and 
its  principal  front,  which  faces  the  north,  extends  three  hundred  and  forty-eight 
feet  from  wing  to  wing,  with  a  portico  and  flight  of  steps  in  the  centre.     The 
interior  is  very  fine,   with  magnificently-painted  ceilings,  tapestries,   statuary, 
and  a  rare  collection  of  pictures.     The  tapestries  represent  Blenheim  and  other 
battles,  and  there  are  one  hundred  and  twenty  copies  of  famous  masters,  made 
by  Teniers.     A  stately  statue  of  Queen  Anne  stands  in  the  library.     There  are 
costly  collections  of  enamels,  plaques,  and  miniatures  ;  on  the  walls  are  huge 
paintings  by  Sir  James  Thornhill,  one  representing  the  great  duke,  in  a  blue 
cuirass,  kneeling  before  Britannia,  clad  in  white  and  holding  a  lance  and  wreath  ; 
Hercules  and  Mars  stand  by,  and  there  are  emblem-bearing  females  and  the 
usual  paraphernalia.     We  are  told  that  Thornhill  was  paid  for  these  at  the  rate 
of  about  six  dollars  per  square  yard.     The  duchess  Sarah  also  poses  in  the  col- 
lection as  Minerva,  wearing  a  yellow  classic   breastplate.     Among  other  relics 
kept  in  the  palace  are  Oliver  Cromwell's   teapot,  another  teapot  presented  by 
the  Due  de  Richelieu    to  Louis  XIV.,  two    bottles    that    belonged   to  Queen 
Anne,  and  some  Roman  and  Grecian  pottery.     The  great  hall,  which  has  the 
battle  of  Blenheim  depicted   on  its  ceiling,   extends  the  entire  height  of  the 
building;  the  library  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  feet  long;  and  in  the 
chapel,  beneath  a  pompous  marble  monument,  rest  the  great  duke  and  his 
proud  duchess  Sarah,  and  their  two  sons,  who  died  in  early  years.     The  pleas- 
ure-gardens extend  over  three  hundred  acres  along  the  borders  of  the  lake 
and  river,  and  are  very  attractive.     They  contain  the  Temple  of  Health  erected 
on  the  recovery  of  George  III.  from  his  illness,  an  aviary,  a  cascade  elaborately 
constructed  of  large  masses  of  rock,  a  fountain  copied  after  one  in  Rome,  and 
a  temple  of  Diana.     This  great  estate  was  the  reward  of  the  soldier  whose 
glories  were  sung  by  Addison  in  his  poem  on  the  Campaign.     Addison  then 
lived  in  a  garret  up  three  pair  of  stairs  over  a  small  shop  in  the  Haymarket, 
London,  whither  went  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  get  him  to  write  the 
poem,  and  afterwards  gave  him  a  place  worth  $1000  a  year  as  a  reward.     The 
Marlboroughs  since  have  been  almost  too  poor  to  keep  up  this  magnificent 
estate  in  its  proper  style,  for  the  family  of  Spencer-Churchill,  which  now  holds 
the  title,  unlike  most  of  the  other  great  English  houses,  has  not  been  blessed  with 
a  princely  private  fortune.     Not  far  from  Woodstock  is  Minster  Lovel,  near  the 
village  of  Whitney.     Some  fragments  of  the  house  remain,  and  it  has  its  tale 


BICESTER   AND   EYNSHAM. 


165 


of  interest,  like  all  these  old  houses  Lord  Lovel  was  one  of  the  supporters 
of  the  impostor  Simnel  against  Henry  \  II.,  and  his  rebellion  being  defeated  in 
the  decisive  battle  at  Stoke  in  Nottinghamshire,  Lord  Lovel  escaped  by  unfre- 
quented roads  and  arrived  home  at  night.  He  was  so  disguised  that  he  was 
only  known  by  a  single  servant,  on  whose  fidelity  he  could  rely.  Before  day- 
break he  retired  to  a  subterranean  recess,  of  which  this  servant  retained  the 
kev,  and  here  he  remained  several  months  in  safe  concealment.  The  kino-  con- 

J  o 

fiscated  the  estate,  however,  and  dispersed  the  household,  so  that  the  voluntary 
prisoner  perished  from  hunger.  During  the  last  century,  when  this  stately 
house  was  pulled  clown,  the  vault  was  discovered,  with  Lord  Lovel  seated  in  a 
chair  as  he  had  died.  So  completely  had  rubbish  excluded  the  air  that  his 
dress,  which  was  described  as  superb,  and  a  prayer-book  lying  before  him  on 
the  table,  were  entire,  but  soon  after  the  admission  of  the  air  the  body  is  said 
to  have  fallen  into  dust. 


BICESTER    AND     EYNSHAM. 

A  pleasant  and  old-fashioned  town,  not  far  away  from  Oxford,  is  Bicester, 
whereof  one  part  is  known  as  the  King's  End  and  the  other  as  the  Market 
End.  Here  is  the  famous  Bicester  Priory, 
founded  in  the  twelfth  century  through  the 
influence  of  Thomas  a  Becket.  It  was  in- 
tended for  a  prior  and  eleven  canons,  in  imi- 
tation of  Christ  and  his  eleven  disciples.  The 
priory  buildings  remained  for  some  time  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses,  but  they 
gradually  disappeared,  and  all  that  now  ex- 
ists is  a  small  farm-house  about  forty  feet 
long  which  formed  part  of  the  boundary-wall 
of  the  priory,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
lodge  for  the  accommodation  of  travellers.  In 
the  garden  was  a  well  of  never-failing  water  ^^^^^^$PP 

held  in  high  repute  by  pilgrims,  and  which  now  BICESTER  PRIORY. 

supplies  a  fish-pond.  The  priory  and  its  estates  have  passed  in  regular  succession 
through  females  from  its  founder,  Gilbert  Basset,  to  the  Stanleys,  and  it  is  now 
one  of  the  possessions  of  the  Earl  of  Derby.  Bicester  is  an  excellent  specimen 
of  an  ancient  English  market-town,  and  its  curious  block  of  market-buildings, 
occupied  by  at  least  twenty-five  tenements,  stands  alone  and  clear  in  the  market- 
place. There  are  antique  gables,  one  of  the  most  youthful  of  which  bears  the 
date  of  1698.  On  the  top  is  a  promenade  used  by  the  occupants  in  summer 


1 66 


KXGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AXD    DESCRIPTIVE. 


"- 


BICESTER    MARKET. 


of  the  thirteenth  century,  but  nothing  remains 
stones  that  may  have  belonged  to 
it.  It  was  near  Eynsham,  not  very 
long  ago,  that  a  strange  dark-green 
water-plant  first  made  its  appear- 
ance in  the  Thames,  and  spread  so 
rapidly  that  it  soon  quite  choked 
the  navigation  of  the  river,  and 
from  there  soon  extended  almost 
all  over  the  kingdom.  The  mea- 
dows and  the  rivers  became  prac- 
tically all  alike,  a  green  expanse,  in 
which  from  an  eminence  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  tell  where  the  water-courses 
lay.  This  plant  was  called  the  "Amer- 
ican weed,"  the  allegation  being  that 
it  came  over  in  a  cargo  of  timber  from 
the  St.  Lawrence.  It  caused  great 
consternation,  but  just  when  mat- 
ters looked  almost  hopeless  it  grad- 
ually withered  and  died,  bringing 
the  navigation  welcome  relief. 


of  the 


weather.  In  the  neigh- 
boring village  of  Eyn- 
sham is  said  to  be  the 
stone  coffin  that  once 
held  Fair  Rosamond's 
remains,  but  it  has 
another  occupant,  one 
Alderman  Fletcher 
having  also  been 
buried  in  it  in  1826. 
Eynsham  once  had 
an  abbey,  of  which 
still  survives  the  shaft 
of  a  stone  cross 
quaintly  carved  with 
the  figures  of  saints. 
It  is  a  relic  probably 
abbey  beyond  a  few 


CROSS    AT    EYNSHAM 


ABINGDON  AXD  RADLEY. 


I67 


ABINGDON1    AND    RADLEY. 

Crossing  over  into  Berkshire,  we  find,  a  short  distance  south  of  Oxford,  on 
the  bank  of  the  Thames,  the  ruins  of  the  once  extensive  and  magnificent 
Abingdon  Abbey,  founded  in  the  seventh  century.  It  was  here  that  Henry, 
the  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  was  educated  and  gained  his  appellation  of 
Beauclerc.  The  gatehouse  still 
remains,  and  is  at  present  de- 
voted to  the  use  of  fire-engines, 
but  there  is  not  much  else  re- 
maining of  the  abbey  save  a 
remarkable  chimney  and  fire- 
place and  some  fragments  of 
walls.  We  are  told  that  the 
Saxons  founded  this  abbey,  and 
that  the  Danes  destroyed  it, 
while  King  Alfred  deprived  the 
monks  of  their  possessions,  but 
his  grandson  yEdred  restored 
them.  The  abbey  was  then 
built,  and  became  afterwards 
richly  endowed.  For  six  cen- 
turies it  was  one  of  the  great 
religious  houses  of  this  part  of 
England  ;  and  the  Benedictines, 
true  to  their  creed,  toiled  every 
day  in  the  fields  as  well  as  pray- 
ed in  the  church.  They  began 
the  day  by  religious  services  ; 
then  assembled  in  the  chapter- 
house, where  each  was  allotted  his  task  and  tools,  and  after  a  brief  prayer  they 
silently  marched  out  in  double  file  to  the  fields.  From  Easter  until  October 
they  were  thus  occupied  from  six  in  the  morning  until  ten  o'clock,  and  some- 
times until  noon.  Thus  they  promoted  thrift,  and  as  their  settlement  extended 
it  became  the  centre  of  a  rich  agricultural  colony,  for  they  often,  as  their  lands 
expanded,  let  them  out  to  farmers.  A  short  distance  from  Abingdon  is  Radley, 
which  was  formerly  the  manor  of  the  abbey,  and  contains  a  beautiful  little 
church,  wealthy  in  its  stores  of  rich  woodwork  and  stained  glass;  it  stands  in 
the  middle  of  the  woods  in  a  charming  situation,  with  picturesque  elm  trees 


ENTRANCE    TO    ABINGDON   ABBEV. 


1 68 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


overhanging  the  old  Tudor  building.  Radley  House  is  now  a  training-school 
for  Oxford,  and  it  has  a  swimming-school  attached,  in  which  have  been  pre- 
pared several  of  the  most  famous  Oxford  oarsmen,  swimming  being  here 
regarded  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  boating.  Near  by  is  Bagley  Wood, 
the  delicious  resort  of  the  Oxonians  which  Dr.  Arnold  loved  so  well.  The 
village  of  Sunningwell,  not  far  from  Radley,  also  has  a  church,  and  before  its 
altar  is  the  grave  of  Dean  Fell,  once  its  rector,  who  died  of  grief  on  hearing 
of  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  From  the  tower  of  this  church  Friar  Bacon, 

the  hero  of  the  story  of  the  brazen 
head,  is  said  to  have  made  astro- 
nomical observations :  this  renown- 
ed friar,  Roger  Bacon,  has  come 
down  to  us  as  the  most  learned 
man  that  Oxford  ever  produced. 
Bacon's  Study  was  near  the  Folly 
Bridge,  across  the  Thames  on  the 
road  to  Oxford,  and  it  survived 
until  17/9,  when  it  was  taken  down. 
Among  the  many  legends  told  of 
Bacon  is  one  that  he  used  such 
skill  and  magic  in  building  the 
tower  containing  this  study  that  it 
would  have  fallen  on  the  head  of 
any  one  more  learned  than  himself 
who  might  pass  under  it.  Hence, 
freshmen  on  their  arrival  at  Oxford 
are  carefully  warned  not  to  walk 
too  near  the  Friar's  Tower.  Bacon 
overcame  the  greatest  obstacles  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge;  he  spent 
all  his  own  money  and  all  that  he  could  borrow  in  getting  books  and  instru- 
ments, and  then,  renouncing  the  world,  he  became  a  mendicant  monk  of  the 
order  of  St.  Francis.  His  Opus  Majus—to  publish  which  he  and  his  friends 
pawned  their  goods— was  an  epitome  of  all  the  knowledge  of  his  time. 

Other  famous  men  came  also  from  Abingdon.  Edmund  Rich,  who  did  so 
much  to  raise  the  character  of  Oxford  in  its  earlier  clays,  was  born  there  about 
the  year  1 200 ;  his  parents  were  very  poor,  and  his  father  sought  refuge  in 
Eynsham  Abbey.  We  are  told  that  his  mother  was  too  poor  to  furnish  young 
Rich  "with  any  other  outfit  than  his  horsehair  shirt,  which  she  made  him  prom- 


KADLEY    CHURCH. 


CATKKSHAM  A.\D   READIXG   ABBEY,  169 


ise  to  wear  every  Wednesday,  and  which  probably  had  been  the  cause  of  his 
father's  retirement  from  their  humble  abode."  Rich  went  from  Eynsham  to 
Oxford,  and  soon  became  its  most  conspicuous  scholar;  then  he  steadily  ad- 
vanced until  he  died  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Chief-Justice  Holt,  who 
reformed  the  legal  procedure  of  England,  was  also  a  native  of  Abingdon  ;  he 
admitted  prisoners  to  some  rights,  protected  defendants  in  suits,  and  had 
the  irons  stricken  off  the  accused  when  brought  into  court,  for  in  those  days 
of  the  cruel  rule  of  Judge  Jeffreys  the  defendant  was  always  considered  guilty 
until  adjudged  innocent.  Holt  originated  the  aphorism  that  "slaves  cannot 
breathe  in  England:"  this  was  in  the  famous  Somerset  case,  where  a  slave  was 
sold  and  the  vendor  sued  for  his  money,  laying  the  issues  at  Mary-le-Bow  in 
London,  and  describing  the  negro  as  "  there  sold  and  delivered."  The  chief- 
justice  said  that  the  action  was  not  maintainable,  as  the  status  of  slavery  did 
not  exist  in  England.  If,  however,  the  claim  had  been  laid  in  Virginia,  he  said 
he  would  have  been  obliged  to  allow  it;  so  that  the  decision  was  practically  on 
technical  grounds.  Lord  Campbell  sums  up  Holt's  merits  as  a  judge  by  say- 
ing that  he  was  not  a  statesman  like  Clarendon,  or  a  philosopher  like  Bacon, 
or  an  orator  like  Mansfield,  yet  his  name  is  held  in  equal  veneration  with 
theirs,  and  some  think  him  the  most  venerated  judge  that  ever  was  chief-jus- 
tice. There  is  a  really  good  story  told  of  him  by  Lord  Campbell.  In  his 
younger  days  Holt  was  travelling  in  Oxfordshire,  and  stopped  at  an  inn  where 
the  landlady's  daughter  had  an  illness  inducing  fits.  She  appealed  to  him,  and 
he  promised  to  work  a  cure;  which  he  did  by  writing  some  Greek  words  on  a 
piece  of  parchment  and  telling  her  to  let  her  daughter  wear  the  charm  around 
her  neck.  Partly  from  the  fact  that  the  malady  had  spent  itself,  and  possibly 
also  from  the  effect  of  her  imagination,  the  girl  entirely  recovered.  Years 
rolled  on  and  he  became  the  lord  chief-justice,  when  one  day  a  withered  old 
woman  was  brought  before  the  assizes  for  being  a  witch,  and  it  was  proven 
that  she  pretended  to  cure  all  manner  of  cattle  diseases,  and  with  a  charm  that 
she  kept  carefully  wrapped  in  a  bundle  of  rags.  The  woman  told  how  the 
charm  many  years  before  had  cured  her  daughter,  and  when  it  was  unfolded 
and  handed  to  the  judge  he  remembered  the  circumstance,  recognized  his  talis- 
man, and  ordered  her  release. 

CAVERSHAM  AND  READING  ABBEY. 

As  we  continue  the  journey  down  the  Thames  the  shores  on  either  hand 
seem  cultivated  like  gardens,  with  trim  hedgerows  dividing  them,  pretty  vil- 
lages, cottages  gay  with  flowers  and  evergreens,  spires  rising  among  the  trees ; 
and  the  bewitching  scene  reminds  us  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson's  tribute  to  the 


;o 


EXuLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


English  landscape,  that  "  it  seems  to  be  finished  with  the  pencil  instead  of  the 
plough."  The  surface  of  the  river  is  broken  by  numerous  little  "aits"  or 
islands.  We  pass  the  little  old  house  and  the  venerable  church  embosomed 

in  the  rural  beauties 
of  Clifton-  Hampden. 
We  pass  Walling- 
ford  and  Goring,  and 
come  to  Pangbourne 
and  White hurch, 
where  the  little  river 
Pang  flows  in  be- 
tween green  hills. 
Each  village  has  the 
virtue  that  Dr.  John- 
son extolled  when  he 
said  that  "  the  finest 
landscape  in  the 
world  is  improved 
by  a  good  inn  in  the 
foreground."  Then 
we  come  to  Maple- 
durham  and  Purley, 
where  Warren  Hast- 
ings lived,  and  final- 
ly halt  at  Cavers- 
ham,  known  as  the 
port  of  Reading. 
Here  the  Thames 
widens,  and  here  in 
the  olden  time  was 
the  little  chapel  with 
a  statue  of  the  Vir- 
gin known  as  the 
"  Lady  of  Cavers- 

THE   THAMES    AT    CI.IFTON-HAMPDEN.  1  ..          l    •     i 

ham,  which  was  re- 
puted to  have  wrought  many  miracles  and  was  the  shrine  for  troops  of  pil- 
grims. In  Cromwell's  day  the  chapel  was  pulled  down,  and  the  statue,  which 
was  plated  over  with  silver,  was  boxed  up  and  sent  to  the  Lord  Protector  in 
London.  They  also  had  here  many  famous  relics,  among  them  the  spear-head 


THE    VICAR    OF  BRAY. 


171 


that  pierced  the  Saviour's  side,  which  had  been  brought  there  by  a  "  one- 
winged  angel."  The  officer  who  destroyed  the  chapel,  in  writing  a  report  of 
the  destruction  to  Cromwell,  expressed  his  regret  at  having  missed  among  the 
relics  "a  piece  of  the  holy  halter  Judas  was  hanged  withal."  Lord  Cadogan 
subsequently  built  Caversham  House  for  his  residence.  Reading,  which  is  the 
county-town  of  Berkshire,  is  not  far  away  from  Caversham,  and  is  now  a  thriv- 
ing manufacturing  city,  its  most  interesting  relic  being  the  hall  of  the  ancient 
Reading  Abbey,  built  seven  hundred  years  ago.  It  was  one  of  the  wealthiest 
in  the  kingdom,  and  several  parliaments  sat  in  the  hall.  The  ruins,  still  care- 
fully preserved,  show  its  extent  and  fine  Norman  architecture. 

The  Thames  flows  on  past  Sonning,  where  the  Kennet  joins  it,  a  stream 
"  for  silver  eels  renowned,"  as  Pope  tells  us.  Then  the  Lodden  comes  in  from 
the  south,  and  we  enter  the  fine  expanse  of  Henley  Reach,  famous  for  boat- 
racing.  It  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  though  the  university  race  is  now 
rowed  farther  down  the  river  and  nearer  London,  at  Putney.  Our  boat  now 
drifts  with  the  stream  through  one  of  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  the  famous 
river,  past  Medmenham  Abbey  and  Cliefden  to  Maidenhead.  Here  for  about 
ten  miles  is  a  succession  of  beauties  of  scenery  over  wood  and  cliff  and  water 
that  for  tranquil  loveliness  cannot  be  surpassed  anywhere.  Who  has  not  heard 
of  the  charming  rocks,  and  hanging  woods  of  Cliefden,  with  the  Duke  of  West- 
minster's mansion  standing  on  their  pinnacle? 


THE    VICAR    OF    BRAY. 

We  come  to  Maidenhead  and  Taplow,  with  Brunei's  masterpiece  of 
building  connecting  them,  its  elliptical  brick  arches  being  the  broadest 
kind  in  the  kingdom.  Below 
this,  as  beauties  decrease,  we 
are  compensated  by  scenes 
of  greater  historical  interest. 
Near  Maidenhead  is  Bisham 
Abbey,  the  most  interesting 
house  in  Berkshire.  It  was 
originally  a  convent,  and  here 
lived  Sir  Thomas  Russel,  who 
at  one  time  was  the  custodian 
of  the  princess  Elizabeth. 
He  treated  her  so  well  that 
she  warmly  welcomed  him  at 
court  after  becoming  queen. 


bridge- 
of  their 


BKAY    CHURCH. 


!72  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


Bisham  is  a  favorite  scene  for  artists  to  sketch.  Bray  Church,  where  officiated 
the  famous  "  Vicar  of  Bray,"  Symond  Symonds,  is  below  Maidenhead.  This 
lively  and  politic  vicar  lived  in  the  troubled  times  of  King  Henry  VIII.,  Edward 
VI.,  Queen  Mary,  and  Queen  Elizabeth.  Having  seen  martyrs  burnt  at  Wind- 
sor, but  two  miles  off,  he  found  the  fires  too  ho:  for  his  tender  temper,  and  there- 
fore changed  his  religion  whenever  events  changed  his  sovereign.  When  taxed 
with  being  a  religious  changeling,  his  shrewd  answer  was,  "  Not  so,  for  I  always 
keep  my  principle,  which  is  this— to  live  and  to  die  the  Vicar  of  Bray."  The  old 
church,  nestling  among  the  trees,  is  attractive,  and  we  are  told  that  an  ancient 
copy  of  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  which  was  chained  to  the  reading-desk  in 
Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  is  still  preserved  here  for  the  edification  of  the  faithful. 

ETON    COLLEGE. 

Soon  the  famous  Eton  College  comes  into  view  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
river — an  institution  dear  to  the  memory  of  many  English  schoolboys.  The 
village  consists  of  a  long,  narrow  street  which  is  extended  across  an  iron 
bridge  to  Windsor,  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Thames.  Henry  VI.  founded 
the  "College  of  the  Blessed  Mary  of  Eton  beside  Windsor"  as  early  as  1440. 
The  older  parts  of  the  buildings  are  of  red  brick,  with  stone  dressings  and 
quaint,  highly  ornamental  chimneys,  and  they  are  clustered  around  two  quad- 
rangles. Here  are  the  Lower  and  Upper  Schools  and  the  Long  Chamber. 
About  thirty-five  years  ago  fine  new  buildings  were  erected  in  similar  style  to 
the  old  buildings,  which  provide  a  beautiful  chapel,  schools,  and  library  (though 
books  are  said  to  be  scarce  there),  and  extensive  dormitories.  Adjoining  them 
to  the  north-east  are  the  Playing  Fields  on  the  broad  green  meadows  along 
the  river's  edge,  with  noble  elms  shading  them.  In  the  Upper  School  of  the 
ancient  structure  high  wooden  panelling  covers  the  lower  part  of  the  walls, 
deeply  scarred  with  the  names  of  generations  of  Eton  boys  crowded  closely 
together.  In  earlier  times  all  used  to  cut  their  names  in  the  wood,  but  now 
this  sculpturing  is  only  permitted  to  those  who  attain  a  certain  position  and 
leave  without  dishonor.  Thus  the  panelling  has  become  a  great  memorial 
tablet,  and  above  it,  upon  brackets,  are  busts  of  some  of  the  more  eminent 
Etonians,  including  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  Pitt,  Fox,  Hallam,  Fielding,  and 
Gray.  In  the  library  are  kept  those  instruments  of  chastisement  which  are 
always  considered  a  part  of  schoolboy  training,  though  a  cupboard  hides  them 
from  view — all  but  the  block  whereon  the  victim  kneels  preliminary  to  punish- 
ment. More  than  once  have  the  uproarious  boys  made  successful  raids  and 
destroyed  this  block  or  carried  it  off  as  a  trophy.  But  vigorous  switching  was 
more  a  habit  at  Eton  in  former  days  than  it  is  now.  Of  Head-master  Keate, 


ETO.\   t'OI.l.l-.GE. 


173 


who  was  a  famous  flogger  a  half  century  ago.  and  would  frequently  practise 
on  a  score  of  boys  at  one  seance,  the  scholars  made  a  calculation  to  prove  that 
he  spent  twice  as  much  time  in  chastisement  as  in  church,  and  it  is  recorded 
that  he  once  Hogged  an  entire  division  of  eighty  boys  without  an  intermission. 
On  another  occasion  he  flogged,  by  mistake,  a  party  who  hail  been  sent  him  for 
confirmation.  Tall  stories  are  also  told  of  Eton  flogging  and  "rug-riding" — 
the  latter  being  a  process  whereby  a  heavy  boy  was  dragged  on  a  rug  over  the 


I.    ETON    COLL  EC!  E    FROM    THE    PLAYING    FIELD 


J    CRICKET-GROUND. 


floors  to  polish  them.  Down  to  1840  the  Eton  dinners  consisted  entirely  of 
mutton,  with  cold  mutton  served  up  for  supper,  but  this  regulation  diet  is  now 
varied  with  an  occasional  service  ot  beef  and  other  courses.  Games  are  no 
inconsiderable  part  of  the  English  schoolboy's  education,  and  the  Duke  of 
"Wellington  said  that  in  the  "  Playing  Eields  "  of  Eton  the  battle  of  Waterloo 
was  won.  These  fields,  "  where  all  unconscious  of  their  doom  the  little  victims 
play,"  contain  one  of  the  finest  cricket-grounds  in  England.  The  boys  divide 
themselves  into  "dry  bobs"  and  "wet  bobs,"  the  former  devoted  to  cricket  and 
the  latter  to  boating.  The  procession  of  the  boats  is  the  great  feature  of  June 
4th,  the  "Speech  Day."  Of  late  years  the  Eton  volunteer  corps  has  attained 


!74  E.\\;LAX/),  PICTURESOI'E  ,i.\n  DESCRIPTIVE. 

great  proficiency,  being  a  battalion  of  over  three  hundred  of  the  larger  boys. 
This  famous  college  is  one  of  the  preparatory  schools  for  the  universities.  It 
is  a  world  in  miniature,  where  the  boy  finds  his  own  level,  and  is  taught  lessons 
of  endurance,  patience,  self-control,  and  independence  which  stand  him  in  good 
service  throughout  after-life. 


WINDSOR    CASTLE. 

Across  the  Thames,  on  the  southern  bank,  the  antique  and  noble  towers  of 
Windsor  Castle  now  rise  high  above  the  horizon.  This  is  the  sovereign's  rural 
court,  and  is  probably  the  best  known  by  the  world  of  all  the  English  castles. 
The  name  is  given  various  derivations :  some  ascribe  it  to  the  river's  winding 
course;  others  to  "Wind  us  over,"  in  allusion  to  a  rope-ferry  there  in  ancient 


WINDSOR,    FROM    THE    JiROCAb. 

times  ;  others  to  "  Wind  is  sore,"  as  the  castle  stands  high  and  open  to  the 
weather.  Fro.n  the  Saxon  days  Windsor  has  been  a  fortress,  but  the  present 
castle  owes  its  beginning  to  Edward  III.,  who  was  born  at  Windsor  and  built 
its  earliest  parts,  commencing  with  the  great  Round  Tower  in  1315.  The  .ran- 
soms of  two  captive  kings,  John  of  France  and  Davicl  of  Scotland,  paid  for  the 


H7.\DSOJ?    CASTLE. 


'75 


two  higher  wards.  It  was  at  Windsor  that  King  Edward  instituted  the  Order 
of  the  Garter,  which  is  the  highest  British  order  of  knighthood.  Being  im- 
pressed with  the  charms  of  Alice,  Countess  of  Salisbury,  but  she  resisting  his 
advances,  out  of  the  gallantries  of  their  coquetry  came  the  circumstance  of 
the  king's  picking  up  her  garter  dropped  at  a  ball  and  presenting  it  to  her. 
Some  of  the  nobles  smiled  at  this,  which  the  king  noticing,  said,  "  Honi  soit 
qui  mal  y  pense  "  ("  Evil  be  to  him  who  evil  thinks  "),  adding  that  shortly  they 
would  see  that  garter  advanced  to  such  high  renown  as  to  be  happy  to  wear  it. 
Froissart,  in  giving  the  legend 
telling  of  this  institution  of  the 
Garter,  says  that  it  arose  out 
of  the  chivalrous  self-denial  that 
leads  virtue  to  subdue  passion. 
Henry  VI.  was  born  at  Windsor; 
Edward  IV.  added  St.  George's 
Chapel  to  the  castle;  Henry  VII. 
built  the  Tomb  House,  and  Henry 
VIII.  the  gateway  to  the  Lower 
Ward ;  Queen  Elizabeth  added 
the  gallery  of  the  north  terrace ; 
and  in  Charles  II. 's  reign  the 
fortress,  which  it  had  been  until 
that  time,  was  converted  into  a 
sort  of  French  palace.  Thus  it 
remained  until  George  IV.,  in 
1824,  thoroughly  restored  it  at 
a  cost  of  $7,500,000.  The  great 
gateways  are  known  as  Henry 
VIII. 's,  St.  George's,  and  King 
George  IV. 's,  while  within  is  the 
Norman  or  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Gate.  The  Round  Tower  or 
Keep  was  built  for  the  assemblage  of  a  fraternity  of  knights  which  King 
Edward  intended  to  m<?del  after  King  Arthur's  "  Knights  of  the  Round  Table," 
but  the  project  was  abandoned  after  the  institution  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 
The  Round  Tower  stands  upon  an  artificial  mound,  and  what  was  formerly  its 
surrounding  ditch  is  now  a  sunken  garden.  From  its  commanding  battlements 
twelve  counties  can  be  seen,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  constable  of  this  tower, 
as  indeed  of  the  whole  castle.  This  fine  old  keep  was  the  castle-prison  from 


ROUND    TOWER,    WEST    END. 

iBy  permission  of  Messrs.  Harper  &  Brothers.) 


76 


Ji.\uL.-i.\D.  J'ICTL'RESQL'E  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  time  of  Edward  III.  to  that  of  Charles  II.  The  poet-king,  James  I.  of  Scot- 
land, captured  when  ten  years  old  by  Henry  IV.,  was  the  first  prisoner  of  note. 
Here  he  fell  in  love  with  Jane  Beaufort,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  he  tells  in  a  quaint  poem  the  romance  which  ended  in  her  becoming  his 
queen.  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  brought  to  the  block  by  Henry  \  III., 
was  also  confined  there,  and  he  too  lamented  his  captivity  in  poetry.  From  the 
top  of  the  keep  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  in  London  can  be  seen.  The  castle 
was  mercilessly  plundered  in  the  Civil  Wars,  till  Cromwell  interfered  for  its 
protection.  In  its  present  condition  the  casth'  lias  three  grand  divisions  in  the 
palatial  parts — the  state  apartments,  looking  north  ;  the  queen's  private  apart- 


OVEENS    ROOMS    IN    SOUTH-EAST    TOWER,    WINDSOR    CASTI.E. 

IBy  [^nni^n.n  nt   M^r*.  ll.irp.N  \   Hr.  I 

ments,  looking  east;  and  the  visitors'  apartments,  looking  south.  The  south 
and  east  sides  of  the  quadrangle  contain  over  three  hundred  and  seventy 
rooms.  Southward  of  the  castle  is  the  Windsor  Great  Park,  to  which  the 
"  Long  Walk,"  said  to  be  the  finest  avenue  of  the  kind  in  Europe,  runs  in  a 
straight  line  for  three  miles  from  the  principal  entrance  of  the  castle  to  the  top 
of  a  commanding  eminence  in  the  park  called  Snow  Hill.  Double  rows  of 
stately  elms  border  the  "Long  Walk  "  on  either  hand,  and  it  terminates  at 
the  fine  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  George  III.,  standing  on  the  highest  part 
of  Snow  Hill. 

St.  George's  Chapel,  a  beautiful   structure  of  the   Perpendicular  Gothic,  .was 
begun  four  hundred  years  ago,  and  contains  the  tomb  of  Edward  IV.,  who  built 


SOME  RIVER-SCENES. 


'77 


it.  In  i  789,  more  than  three  hundred 
years  after  his  interment,  the  leaden 
coffin  of  the  king  was  found  in  laying 
a  new  pavement.  The  skeleton  is  said 
to  have  been  seven  feet  long,  and 
Horace  Walpole  got  a  lock  of  the 
king's  hair.  Here  also  lie  Henry 
VI.,  Henry  VIII.,  and  Charles  I.  The 
latter's  coffin  was  opened  in  1813, 
and  the  king's  remains  were  found 
in  fair  preservation.  The  close  com- 
panionship of  Henry  VIII.  and  Charles 
in  death  is  thus  described  by  Byron  : 

"  Famed  for  contemptuous  breach  of  sacred  ties, 
By  headless  Charles  see  heartless  Henry  lies." 

The  tradition  of"  Herne  the  Hun- 
ter," which  Shakespeare  gives  in  the 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  is  said  to 
be  founded  on  the  fact  that  Herne, 
a  keeper  of  Windsor  Forest,  having 
committed  some  offence,  hanged  him- 
self upon  an  oak  tree.  His  ghost  af- 
terwards was  to  be  seen,  with  horns 
on  its  head,  walking  round  about 
this  oak  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
castle. 


INTERIOR    OF   ST.    GEORGES   CHAPEL. 

iBy  permission  of  Messrs.  IIari>cr  ^V  lin.lhers. 


SOME    RIVER-SCENES. 

Just  below  Windsor  the  Thames  passes  between  Runnimede,  the  "  Meadow 
of  Council,"  where  the  barons  encamped,  and  Magna  Charta  Island,  where 
King  John  signed  the  great  charter  of  English  liberty.  The  river  sweeps  in 
a  tranquil  bend  around  the  wooded  isle,  where  a  pretty  little  cottage  has  been 
built  which  is  said  to  contain  the  very  stone  whereon  the  charter  was  signed. 
The  river  Coin  falls  into  the  Thames,  and  "London  Stone"  marks  the  entrance 
to  Middlesex  and  the  domain  of  the  metropolis.  We  pass  Staines  and  Chert- 
sey,  where  the  poet  Cowley  lived,  and  then  on  the  right  hand  the  river  Wey 
comes  in  at  Weymouth.  Many  villages  are  passed,  and  at  a  bend  in  the 
Thames  we  come  to  the  place  where  Caesar  with  his  legions  forded  the  river 
at  Cowey  Stakes,  defeated  Cassivelaunus,  and  conquered  Britain.  In  his  Com- 


1 78 


r.\uL,L\'D,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


mentaries  Julius  Caesar  writes  that  he  led  his  army  to  the  Thames,  which  could 
be  crossed  on  foot  at  one  place  only,  and  there  with  difficulty.  On  arriving, 
he  perceived  great  forces  of  the  enemy  drawn  up  on  the  opposite  bank,  which 
was  fortified  by  sharp  stakes  set  along  the  margin,  a  similar  stockade  being 

fixed  in  the  bed  of  the  river 
and  covered  by  the  stream. 
These  facts  being  ascertained 
from  prisoners  and  deserters, 
Caesar  sent  the  cavalry  in 
front  and  ordered  the  legions 
to  follow  immediately.  The 
soldiers  advanced  with  such 
impetuosity,  although  up  to 
their  necks  in  the  water,  that 
the  Britons  could  not  with- 
stand the  onset  and  fled. 
A  couple  of  miles  below,  at 
Hampton,  Garrick  lived  in  a 
mansion  fronted  by  a  rotunda 
with  a  Grecian  portico.  We 
pass  Hampton  Court  and 
Bushey  Park,  which  revive  memories  of  Wolsey,  Cromwell,  and  William  III., 
and  then  on  the  opposite  bank  see  the  two  charming  Dittons — "  Thames  "  and 
"Long"  Ditton  — of  which  Theodore  Hook  has  written: 

"  When   sultry  suns  and  dusty  streets  proclaim  town's  '  winter  season,' 
And  rural  scenes  and  cool  retreats  sound  something  like  high  treason, 
I  steal  away  to  shades  serene  which  yet  no  bard  has  hit  on, 
And  change  the  bustling,  heartless  scene  for  quietude  and  Ditton. 

"Here,  in  a  placid  waking  dream.  I'm  free  from  worldly  troubles, 
Calm  as  the  rippling  silver  stream  that  in  the  sunshine  bubbles  ; 
And  when  sweet  Eden's  blissful  bowers  some  abler  bard  has  writ  on, 
Despairing  to  transcend  his  powers,  I'll  ditto  say  for  Ditton." 

Then  we  pass  Kingston,  where  several  Saxon  kings  were  crowned,  and  the 
coronation-stone,  marked  with  their  names,  it  is  said,  still  remains  in  the  market- 
place. Tedclington  Lock  is  the  last  upon  the  Thames,  and  a  mile  below  is 
Eel-Pie  Island,  lying  off  Twickenham,  renowned  for  the  romance  that  surrounds 
its  ancient  ferry.  Near  here  lived  the  eccentric  Horace  Walpole,  at  Strawberry 
Hill,  while  in  Twickenham  Church  is  the  monument  to  the  poet  Pope,  which 
states  in  its  inscription  that  he  would  not  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


M.U;NA  CHAKTA  ISLAND. 


LONDON.  I 79 


Pope's  villa  no  longer  exists,  and  only  a  relic  of  his  famous  grotto  remains. 
The  widening  Thames,  properly  gamed  the  Broadwater,  now  sweeps  on  to 
Richmond,  and  if  that  far-famed  hill  is  climbed,  it  discloses  one  of  the  finest 
river-views  in  the  world. 

LONDON. 

Here  ends  the  romantic  portion  of  the  Thames.  The  beauty  of  Nature  is 
no  longer  present,  being  overtopped  by  the  stir  and  roar  of  the  great  Babel, 
for  the  metropolis  has  reached  out  and  swallowed  up  the  suburban  villages, 
although  some  of  the  picturesque  scenes  remain.  Many  bridges  span  the 
river,  which  on  either  hand  gradually  transforms  its  garden-bordered  banks 
into  the  city  buildings,  and  the  Thames  itself  bears  on  its  bosom  the  valuable 
commerce  that  has  chiefly  made  the  great  capital.  When  King  James  I.  threat- 
ened recalcitrant  London  with  the  removal  of  his  court  to  Oxford,  the  lord 
mayor  sturdily  yet  sarcastically  replied,  "  May  it  please  Your  Majesty,  of  your 
grace,  not  to  take  away  the  Thames  too?"  This  river,  so  beautiful  in  its  upper 
loveliness,  stands  alone  in  the  far-reaching  influence  of  the  commerce  that  its 
lower  waters  bear.  It  has  borne  us  from  the  Cotswolds  to  London  ;  while  to 
properly  describe  the  great  city  would  take  volumes  in  itself.  Without  attempt- 
ing such  a  task,  we  will  only  give  a  brief  summary  of  some  of  the  more  strik- 
ing objects  of  interest  that  the  great  British  metropolis  presents. 

The  origin  of  the  vast  city  whose  population  now  approximates  four  mil- 
lions is  obscure.  It  was  a  British  settlement  before  the  Romans  came  to  Eng- 
land, and  its  name  of  Llyn  Dyn,  the  "  City  of  the  Lake,"  was  transformed  by 
the  conquerors  into  Londinium.  When  Caesar  crossed  the  Thames  he  thought 
the  settlement  of  too  little  importance  for  mention,  and  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  occupied  as  a  Roman  station  until  a  century  afterwards,  and  was 
not  walled  round  until  A.  D.  306.  The  old  wall  was  about  three  miles  in  cir- 
cumference, beginning  near  the  present  site  of  the  Tower,  and  some  slight 
traces  of  it  remain.  The  "  London  Stone  "  on  Cannon  Street  was  the  central 
stone  or  mil/iarium  from  which  distances  were  measured  and  the  great  Roman 
highways  started.  A  worn  fragment  of  this  stone,  protected  by  iron  bars,  now 
stands  against  the  wall  of  St.  Swithin's  Church.  When  Jack  Cade  entered 
London,  Shakespeare  tells  us,  he  struck  his  sword  on  this  stone  and  exclaimed, 
"  Now  is  Mortimer  lord  of  this  city."  Wren  caused  it  to  be  encased,  for  pro- 
tection, with  a  new  stone  hollowed  for  the  purpose ;  it  now  stands  very  near 
its  original  position.  London  in  the  sixth  century  became  the  capital  of  the 
Saxon  kingdom  of  Essex,  and  in  the  ninth  century  the  Danes  destroyed  it. 
Kino-  Alfred  a  few  years  afterwards  rebuilt  London,  but  it  stood  barely  seven 


i8o 


E.\uI.AND.  PICTL'RESQL'E 


DESCRIPTIVE. 


years  when  it  was 
burned.  Finally,  it 
was  again  rebuilt, 
and  again  captured 
by  the  Danes,  Ca- 
nute setting  himself 
up  as  king  there. 
Some  relics  of  these 
1  )anes  remain.  St. 
Olaf  was  their  saint, 
and  Tooley  Street  is 
but  a  corruption  of 
his  name.  They  had 
a  church  and  burial- 
place  where  now 
St.  Clement- Danes 
stands  awry  on  the 
Strand  —  a  church 
that  is  of  interest 
not  only  on  its  own 
account,  but  for  the 
venerable  antiquity 
it  represents.  The- 
Saxons  drove  out 
the  Danes,  and  the 
Normans  in  turn 
conquered  the  Sax- 
ons, the  Tower  of 
London  coming 
down  to  us  as  a 
relic  of  William  the 
Conqueror,  who 
granted  the  city  the 
charter  which  is  still 
extant.  Henry  I. 
gave  it  a  new  char- 
ter, which  is  said  to 
have  been  the  mod- 
el for  Mao'iia  ( 'liar- 


THE  MONUMENT. 


ta.  In  the  twelfth 
century  London 
attained  the  digni- 
ty of  having  a  lord 
mayor.  It  sided 
with  the  House  of 
York  in  the  Wars 
of  the  Roses,  and 
in  Elizabeth's  reign 
had  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thou- 
sand population, 
being  then  about 
two  miles  south  of 
Westminster,  with 
fields  between,  and 
having  the  Tower 
standingapartfrom 
the  city  farther 
down  the  Thames. 
The  plague  devas- 
tated it  in  1 665 
carrying  off  sixty 
thousand  persons, 
and  next  year  the 
Great  Fire  occur- 
red, which  destroy- 
ed five-sixths  of  the 
city  within  the  walls, 
and  burned  during 
four  days.  This  fire 
began  at  Pudding 
Lane,  Monument 
Yard,  and  ended 
at  Pie  Corner,  Gilt- 
spur  Street.  To 
commemorate  the 
calamity  the  Mon- 
ument was  erected 


-ST.    PAUL'S   CATIIF.DRAL. 


on  Fish  Street  Hill,  on  the  site  of  St.  Margaret's  Church,  which  was  destroyed. 
It  is  a  fluted  Doric  column  of  Portland  stone,  erected  by  Wren  at  a  cost  of 
$70,000,  and  is  two  hundred  and  two  feet  high.  The  inscriptions  on  the  ped- 
estal record  the  destruction  and  restoration  of  the  city  ;  and  down  to  the  year 
1831  there  was  also  an  inscription  untruthfully  attributing  the  fire  to  "the 
treachery  and  malice  of  the  popish  faction  ;"  this  has  been  effaced,  and  to  it 
Pope's  couplet  alluded : 

"  Where  London's  column,  pointing  to  the  skies, 
Like  a  tall   bully   lifts  its  head  and  lies." 

A  vase  of  flames  forty-two  feet  high,  made  of  gilt  bronze,  crowns  the  apex,  up 
to  which  leads  a  winding  staircase  of  three  hundred  and  forty-five  steps.  The 
structure  has  often  been  compared  to  a  lighted  candle,  and  the  balcony  at  the 
top,  having  been  selected  as  a  favorite  place  for  suicides  to  jump  from,  is  now 
encaged  with  iron-work  to  prevent  this. 

London  was  rebuilt  in  four  years  after  the  Great  Fire,  and  the  first  stone 
of  the  new  St.  Paul's  was  laid  in  1675,  when  the  city  had,  with  the  outlying 
parishes,  a  half  million  population.  Its  growth  was  slow  until  after  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution,  and  it  began  the  present  century  with  about  eight  hundred 
thousand  people.  The.  past  seventy  years  have  witnessed  giant  strides,  and 
it  has  made  astonishing  progress  in  the  elegance  of  its  parks  and  new  streets 
and  the  growth  of  adornments  and  improvements  of  all  kinds.  London  has 
become,  in  fact,  a  world  within  itself. 

ST.    PAUL'S    CATHEDRAL. 

Among  a  multitude  of  famous  objects  in  London,  three  stand  out  boldly 
prominent — St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Westminster  Abbey,  and  the  Tower.  St. 
Paul's,  the  cathedral  church  of  the  bishops  of  London,  is  the  finest  building 
in  the  Italian  style  in  Great  Britain  ;  but,  unfortunately,  in  consequence  of  the 
nearness  of  the  surrounding  houses,  no  complete  general  view  is  attainable. 
The  first  church  was  built  there  by  King  Ethelbert  in  610;  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  then  old  St.  Paul's  was  built,  suffering  repeat- 
edly from  fire  and  lightning,  and  being  finally  destroyed  by  the  Great  Fire  of 
1666.  It  was  a  large  church,  with  a  spire  rising  five  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
The  money-lenders  and  small  dealers  plied  their  vocations  in  its  middle  aisle, 
known  as  Paul's  Walk,  while  tradespeople  took  possession  of  the  vaults  and 
cloisters,  a  baker  made  a  hole  in  a  buttress  for  his  bakeoven,  and  several 
buildings  were  planted  against  the  outer  walls,  one  being  used  as  a  theatre. 
The  ruins  were  not  disturbed  for  eight  years  after  the  fire,  when  Wren  began 


182 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


rebuilding,  the  cathedral  being  finished  in  thirty-five  years.  The  architect, 
bishop,  and  master-mason  who  laid  the  corner-stone  were  all  living  at  the 
completion — a  singular  circumstance.  Wren  got  $1000  a  year  salary,  and  for 
this,  said  the  Duchess  of  Maryborough,  he  was  content  to  be  dragged  up  to 
the  top  in  a  basket  three  or  four  times  a  week.  The  building  cost  $3,740,000, 
chiefly  raised  by  subscription.  It  is  the  fifth  of  the  churches  of  Christendom 


ST.    PAULS   CATHEDRAL. 


in  size,  being  excelled  by  St.  Peter's  and  the  cathedrals  at  Florence,  Amiens, 
and  Milan.  In  ground  plan  it  is  a  Latin  cross  five  hundred  feet  long,  with  a 
transept  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length  ;  the  nave  and  choir  are  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  wide  and  the  sides  one  hundred  feet  high.  The 
majestic  dome,  which  is  the  glory  of  the  cathedral,  rises  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  feet,  and  the  surmounting  lantern  carries  a  gilt  copper  ball  and  cross. 
The  grand  front  towards  the  west,  facing  Luclgate  Hill,  is  approached  by  a 


ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL. 


183 


double  flight  of  steps  from  an  area  which 
contains  a  statue  of  Queen  Anne.  The 
portico  is  in  two  divisions,  with  Corinthian 
columns  supporting  the  pediment,  which 
bears  a  bas-relief  of  the  conversion  of  St. 
Paul,  and  has  a  statue  of  St.  Paul  at  the 
apex,  with  statues  of  St.  Peter  at  the  sides. 
Bell-towers  rise  from  each  side  of  the  por- 
tico to  a  height  of  two  hundred  and  twenty 
feet,  surmounted  by  domes.  The  large  bell, 
"  Great  Paul,"  which  has  just  been  placed  in 
the  tower,  is  the  heaviest  in  England,  weigh- 
ing nearly  seventeen  tons.  Within  the 
cathedral  the  cupola  has  a  diameter  of  one 
hundred  and  eight  feet,  and  rises  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-eight  feet  above  the  pave- 
ment;  around  it  runs  the  famous  Whisper- 
ing Gallery.  Beneath  the  centre  of  the  ST.  PAUL'S  CATHEDRAL,  SOUTH  SIDE. 
pavement  lie  the  remains  of  Lord  Nelson  in  the  crypt,  for  St.  Paul's  has  been 
made  the  mausoleum  of  British  heroes  on  sea  and  land.  Here,  among  others, 

are  monuments  to  Napier,  Ponsonby,  Corn- 
wallis,  Nelson,  Howe,  Collingwood,  Paken- 
ham,  Sir  John  Moore,  Abercrombie,  Rod- 
ney, St.  Vincent,  and  also  a  noble  porphy- 
ry mausoleum  for  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 
Some  of  the  heroes  of  peace  also  have 
monuments  in  St.  Paul's,  among  them  Dr. 
Johnson,  Howard  the  philanthropist.  Sir 
Astley  Cooper  the  surgeon,  Bishop  Mid- 
dleton,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Turner,  Ren- 
nie  the  engineer,  and  also  Wren.  The 
memory  of  the  great  architect  is  marked 
by  a  marble  slab,  with  the  inscription, 
"  Reader,  do  you  ask  his  monument  ?  Look 
around." 

The  outside  elevation  of  the  cathedral  is 
of  two  orders  of  architecture — the  lower, 
Corinthian,   having  windows  with  semicir- 
THE  CHOIR— ST.  PAUL'S  CATHEDRAL.  cular  headings,  while  the  upper,  Composite, 


1 84 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


WKI.LINGTON    MONUMENT,  ST.    PAUL'S   CATHEDRAL,    LONDON. 


has  niches  corre- 
sponding to  the  win- 
dows below.  The 
entablature  of  each 
story  is  supported  by 
coupled  pilasters, 
while  the  north  and 
south  walls  are  sur- 
mounted by  balus- 
trades. Each  arm  of 
the  transept  is  enter- 
ed by  an  external 
semicircular  portico, 
reached  by  a  lofty 
staircase.  Above  the 
dome  is  the  Golden 
Gallery,whence  there 
is  a  grand  view 
around  London,  if  the 
atmosphere  permits, 
which  it  seldom  does. 
Above  the  lantern  is 
the  ball,  weighing 
fifty-  six  hundred 
pounds ;  above  this 
the  cross,  weighing 
thirty-three  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds. 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY. 

This  is  the  most  renowned  church  in  England,  for  in  it  her  sovereigns  have 
been  crowned,  and  many  of  them  buried,  from  the  days  of  Harold  to  Victoria, 
and  it  contains  the  graves  of  her  greatest  men  in  statesmanship,  literature, 
science,  and  art.  The  abbey  is  the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Peter's,  West- 
minster, and  stands  not  far  away  from  the  Thames,  near  Westminster  Hall 
and  the  Parliament  Houses.  Twelve  hundred  years  ago  its  site  was  an  island 
in  the  Thames  known  as  Thorney  Island,  and  a  church  was  commenced  there 
by  Sebert,  king  of  Essex,  but  was  not  completed  until  three  centuries  after- 
wards, in  the  reign  of  King  Edgar,  when  it  was  named  the  "  minster  west  of 


U'ESTMLVSTEK   .UllJEY. 


185 


St.  Paul's,"  or  Westminster.  The  Danes  destroyed  it,  and  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor rebuilt  it  in  the  eleventh  century.  Portions  of  this  church  remain,  but  the 
present  abbey  was  begun  by  Henry  III.  nearly  seven  hundred  years  ago,  and 
it  was  not  completed  until  Edward  III.'s  time.  Henry  VII.  removed  the  Lady 
Chapel,  and  built  the  rich  chapel  at  the  east  end  which  is  named  after  him. 
Wren  ultimately  made  radical  changes  in  it,  and  in  1714,  after  many  changes, 
the  abbey  finally  assumed  its  present  form  and  appearance.  It  has  had  a  groat 

j^Uum^-, 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY. 


history,  the  coronations  alone  that  it  has  witnessed  being  marked  events.  They 
usually  were  followed  by  banquets  in  Westminster  Hall,  but  over  $1,30x3,000 
having  been  wasted  on  the  display  and  banquet  for  George  IV.,  they  were  dis- 
continued afterwards.  At  Queen  Victoria's  coronation  the  crown  was  imposed 
in  front  of  the  altar  before  St.  Edward's  Chapel,  the  entire  nave,  choir,  and 
transepts  being  filled  by  spectators,  and  the  queen  afterwards  sitting  upon  a 


24 


i86 


EXGLAXD,  riCTl'RESQUE  AND 


chair  which,  with  the  raised  platform  bearing  it,  was  covered  with  a  cloth  of 
gold.  Here  she  received  the  homage  of  her  officers  and  the  nobility.  The 
ancient  coronation-chair,  which  is  probably  the  greatest  curiosity  in  the  abbey, 
is  a  most  unpretentious  and  uncomfortable-looking  old  high-backed  chair  with 
a  hard  wooden  seat.  Every  sovereign  of  England  has  been  crowned  in  it  since 
Edward  I.  There  is  a  similar  chair  alongside  it,  the  duplicate  having  been 
made  for  the  coronation  of  William  and  Mary,  when  two  chairs  were  necessary, 
as  both  king  and  queen  were  crowned  and  vested  with  equal  authority.  Under- 
neath the  seat  of  the  coronation-chair  is  fastened  the  celebrated  Stone  of 
Scone,  a  dark-looking,  old,  rough,  and  worn-edged  rock  about  two  feet  square 
and  six  inches  thick.  All  sorts  of  legends  are  told  of  it,  and  it  is  said  to  have 
been  a  piece  of  Jacob's  Pillar.  Edward  I.  brought  it  from  Scotland,  where 
many  generations  had  clone  it  reverence,  and  the  old  chair  was  made  to  con- 
tain it  in  i  297.  These  priceless  accessories  of  the  coronation  ceremony,  which 
will  some  day  do  service  for  the  Prince  of  Wales,  are  kept  alongside  the  tomb 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  which  for  centuries  has  been  the  shrine  of  pilgrims, 
and  they  are  guarded  by  the  graves  of  scores  of  England's  kings  and  queens 
and  princes. 

The  abbey's  ground-plan  has  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross,  which  is  apsidal,  having 
radiating  chapels.      Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  prolongs  the  building  eastward  from 

the  transept  almost  as  much  as  the  nave 
extends  westward.  Cloisters  adjoin  the 
nave,  and  the  western  towers,  built  by 
Wren,  rise  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet,  with  a  grand  window  beneath  .them. 
The  church  is  five  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
long.  The  nave  is  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  two  feet 
high;  the  choir,  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
long;  the  transept,  two  hundred  and  three 
feet  long,  and  on  the  south  arm  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  feet  high.  A  great  rose- 
window,  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  is  in  the 
north  end  of  the  transept,  with  a  fine 
portico,  beneath  which  is  the  beautiful 
gateway  of  the  abbey.  In  the  interior  the 
height  of  the  roof  is  remarkable,  and  also 
the  vast  number  of  monuments,  there  being 


CLOISTERS   OF    WESTMINSTER    ABBEY. 


hundreds  of  them.     Magnificent  woodwork 


;  ( v-:\  y :  i  //.v.v  i  •/;  A-  AH  a  E  ) '. 


in  carving  and  tracery  adorns  the  choir,  and  its  mosaic  pavement  comes  down 
to   us   from   the  thirteenth  century,  the  stones  and  workmen  to  construct  it 


WESTMINSTER    ABBEY,    INTERIOR    OF   THE    CHOIR. 


havino-   been    brought    from    Rome.       The    fine    stained-glass    windows    are 

O  O  *-> 

chiefly  modern.      But   the  grand  contemplation   in  Westminster  Abbey  is  the 
graves  of  the  famous  dead   that  have  been  gathering  there  for  nearly  eight 


1 88 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


centuries.      No  temple  in   the  world  can   present  anything  like  it.      Words- 
worth has  written  : 


-"  lie  mine  in  hours  of  fear 


Or  grovelling  thought  to  find  a  refuge  here, 
Or  through  the  aisles  of  Westminster  to  roam, 
Where  bubbles  burst,  and  folly's  dancing  foam 
Melts  if  it  cross  the  threshold— where  the  wreath 
Of  awestruck  wisdom  droops." 


KING    HENRY    VII.  S   CHAPEL. 


Of  the  nine  chapels  surrounding  the  east  end  of  the  abbey,  the  most  inter- 
esting are  those  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  beyond  the  altar,  and  of  Henry  VII., 
at  the  extreme  eastern  end.  The  shrine  of  King  Edward  above  referred  to 
occupies  the  centre  of  his  chapel,  and  was  formerly  richly  inlaid  with  mosaics 
and  precious  stones,  which,  however,  have  been  carried  off.  Henry  VII. 's 
Chapel  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  architecture  of  his  time,  and  the  monuments 


THE    TOWER    OF  LO.\'DO.\.  189 


of  Queens  Elizabeth  and  Mary  of  Scotland  are  in  the  north  and  south  aisles. 
In  the  south  transept  is  the  Poets'  Corner,  with  monuments  to  all  the  great 
poets,  and  here,  as  well  as  in  nave  and  choir  and  the  north  transept,  are  monu- 
ments of  hundreds  of  illustrious  Englishmen.  In  making  these  burials  there 
is  a  sort  of  method  observed.  Chaucer's  interment  in  the  Poets'  Corner  in 
1400  led  the  south  transept  to  be  devoted  to  literary  men.  The  north  transept 
is  devoted  to  statesmen,  the  first  distinguished  burial  there  being  the  elder  Pitt 
in  1778.  The  organ  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  nave,  and  here  the  eminent 
musicians  repose.  In  the  side  chapels  the  chief  nobles  are  buried,  and  in  the 
chancel  and  its  adjoining  chapels  the  sovereigns.  Isaac  Newton  in  1727  was 
the  first  scientist  buried  in  the  nave,  and  that  part  has  since  been  devoted  to 
scientific  men  and  philanthropists.  Probably  the  finest  tomb  in  the  abbey  is 
that  of  the  elder  Pitt,  which  bears  the  inscription,  "  Erected  by  the  King  and 
Parliament  as  a  testimony  to  the  virtues  and  ability  of  William  Pitt,  Earl  of 
Chatham,  during  whose  administration,  in  the  reigns  of  George  II.  and  George 
III.,  Divine  Providence  exalted  Great  Britain  to  a  height  of  prosperity  and 
glory  unknown  to  any  former  age."  One  of  the  finest  of  the  stained-glass 
windows  in  the  nave  is  the  double  memorial  window  in  memory  of  the  poets 
Herbert  and  Cowper,  erected  by  an  American,  George  W.  Childs.  George 
III.  and  the  British  sovereigns  since  his  reign  have  their  tombs  at  Windsor, 
preferring  that  noble  castle  for  their  last  resting-place. 

Upon  the  east  side  of  the  abbey  is  St.  Margaret's,  the  special  church  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Its  east  window  contains  the  celebrated  stained-glass 
representation  of  the  Crucifixion,  painted  in  Holland,  which  General  Monk 
buried  to  keep  the  Puritans  from  destroying.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  entombed 
here,  and  an  American  subscription  has  placed  a  stained-glass  window  in  the 
church  to  his  memory,  inscribed  with  these  lines  by  James  Russell  Lowell: 

"  The  New  World's  sons,  from   England's  breasts  \ve  drew 

Such  milk  as  bids  remember  whence  we  came. 
Proud  of  her  past,  wherefroin  our  present  grew, 
Tliis  window  we  inscribe  with   Raleigh's  name." 

THF.    TOWER    OF    LONDON. 

On  the  northern  bank  of  the  Thames,  standing  in  a  somewhat  elevated  posi- 
tion a  short  distance  east  of  the  ancient  city-walls,  is  the  collection  of  buildings 

*  o 

known  as  the  Tower.  The  enclosure  covers  about  twelve  acres,  encircled  by 
a  moat  now  drained,  and  a  battlemented  wall  from  which  towers  rise  at 
intervals.  Within  is  another  line  of  walls  with  towers,  called  the  Inner  Ballium, 
having  various  buildings  interspersed.  In  the  enclosed  space,  rising  high  above 


!9°  E. \SLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


all  its  surroundings,  is  the  great  square  White  Tower,  which  was  the  keep  of 
the  old  fortress.  Tradition  assigns  a  very  early  date  to  this  stronghold,  but 
the  written  records  do  not  go  back  earlier  than  William  the  Conqueror,  who 
built  the  White  Tower  about  1078.  It  was  enlarged  and  strengthened  by  sub- 
sequent kings,  and  Stephen  kept  his  court  there  in  the  twelfth  century.  The 
moat  was  made  about  1190.  Edward  II. 's  daughter  was  born  there,  and  was 
known  as  Joan  of  the  Tower.  Edward  III.  imprisoned  Kings  David  of  Scot- 
land and  John  of  Erance  there.  Richard  II.  in  Wat  Tyler's  rebellion  took 
refuge  in  the  Tower  with  his  court  and  nobles,  numbering  six  hundred  per- 
sons, and  in  1399  was  imprisoned  there  and  deposed.  Edward  IV.  kept  a 
splendid  court  in  the  Tower,  and  Henry  VI.,  after  being  twice  a  prisoner  there, 
died  in  the  Tower  in  1471.  There  also  was  the  Duke  of  Clarence  drowned  in 
a  butt  of  Malmsey  wine,  and  the  two  youthful  princes,  Edward  V.  and  his 
brother,  were  murdered  at  the  instance  of  Richard  III.  Henry  VII.  made  the 
Tower  often  his  residence.  Henry  VIII.  received  there  in  state  all  his  wives 
before  their  marriages,  and  two  of  them,  Anne  Boleyn  and  Catharine  Howard, 
were  beheaded  there.  Here  the  Protector  Somerset,  and  afterwards  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  were  beheaded.  The  princess  Elizabeth  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Tower,  and  James  I.  was  the  last  English  sovereign  who  lived  there.  The 
palace,  having  become  ruinous,  was  ultimately  taken  down.  The  Tower  during 
the  eight  hundred  years  it  has  existed  has  contained  a  legion  of  famous  pris- 
oners, and  within  its  precincts  Chaucer,  who  held  an  office  there  in  Richard 
II. 's  reign,  composed  his  poem  The  Testament  of  Love,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
wrote  his  Histoiy  of  tlie  World. 

The  "  Yeomen  of  the  Guard,"  a  corps  of  forty-eight  warders,  who  are  meri- 
torious soldiers,  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  Henry  VIII. 's  reign  on  state  occa- 
sions, and  at  other  times  wearing  black  velvet  hats  and  dark-blue  tunics,  have 
charge  of  the  exhibition  of  the  Tower.  The  entrance  is  in  a  small  building 
on  the  western  side,  where  years  ago  the  lions  were  kept,  though  they  have 
since  been  all  sent  to  the  London  Zoological  Garden.  From  this  originated 
the  phrase  "going  to  see  the  lions."  At  the  centre  of  the  river-front  is  the 
"  Traitor's  Gate,"  through  which  persons  charged  with  high  treason  were  for- 
merly taken  into  the  Tower.  It  is  a  square  building  erected  over  the  moat, 
and  now  contains  a  steam  pumping-engine.  Opposite  it  is  the  Bloody  Tower, 
where  the  young  princes  were  smothered  and  where  Raleigh  was  confined. 
-Adjoining  is  the  Wakefield  Tower,  with  walls  thirteen  feet  thick.  Passing- 
through  the  Bloody  Tower  gateway  to  the  interior  enclosure,  a  large  number 
of  curious  guns  are  seen,  and  the  Horse  Armory  at  the  base  of  the  White 
Tower  is  filled  with  specimens  of  ancient  armor  artistically  arranged.  In  this 


I92  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


collection  the  systems  of  armor  can  be  traced  from  the  time  of  Edward  I.  to 
that  of  James  II.,  and  there  are  suits  that  were  worn  by  several  famous  kings 
and  warriors.  Above,  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  Armory,  is  more  armor,  and  also 
trophies  of  Waterloo  and  other  battles,  and  a  collection  of  every  kind  of 
weapon  in  the  Tower.  There  are  also  specimens  of  instruments  of  torture 
and  many  other  curiosities  on  exhibition. 

The  White  Tower,  which  has  walls  fourteen  feet  thick  in  some  parts,  covers 
a  space  one  hundred  and  sixteen  by  ninety-six  feet,  and  is  ninety-two  feet  high, 
with  turrets  at  the  angles.  Each  floor  is  divided  into  three  rooms,  with  stone 
partitions  seven  feet  thick.  On  the  second  floor  is  St.  John's  Chapel,  and  on  the 
third  the  council-chamber  of  the  early  kings,  with  a  dark,  massive  timber  roof; 
in  this  chamber  Richard  II.  resigned  his  crown  ;  it  is  now  filled  with  a  vast 
collection  of  arms.  The  Salt  Tower,  which  is  at  an  angle  of  the  enclosure,  was 
formerly  a  prison  ;  and  in  another  part  of  the  grounds  is  the  Jewel  House, 
where  the  crown  jewels  are  kept ;  they  are  in  a  glass  case,  protected  by  an 
iron  cage,  and  the  house  was  built  for  them  in  1842.  Queen  Victoria's  state 
crown,  made  in  1838,  after  her  coronation,  is  the  chief.  It  consists  of  diamonds, 
pearls,  sapphires,  rubies,  and  emeralds  set  in  silver  and  gold,  and  has  a  crim- 
son velvet  cap  with  carmine  border,  lined  with  white  silk.  It  contains  the 
famous  ruby  given  to  Edward  the  Black  Prince  by  the  King  of  Castile,  and 
which  is  surrounded  by  diamonds  forming  a  Maltese  cross.  The  jewels  in  this 
crown  are  one  large  ruby,  one  large  sapphire,  sixteen  other  sapphires,  eleven 
emeralds,  four  rubies,  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  brilliant  dia- 
monds, one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  rose  diamonds,  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  table  diamonds,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
pearls.  Among  the  other  crowns  is  St.  Edward's  crown,  of  gold  embellished 
with  diamonds,  used  at  all  coronations,  when  it  is  placed  upon  the  sovereign's 
head  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  This  crown  was  stolen  from  the 
Tower  by  Blood  in  1761.  There  are  also  the  Prince  of  Wales'  crown,  the 
queen's  crown,  the  queen's  diadem,  St.  Edward's  Staff,  four  feet  seven  inches 
long,  made  of  beaten  gold  and  surmounted  by  an  orb  said  to  contain  part  of 
the  true  cross,  and  carried  before  the  sovereign  at  coronation  ;  the  royal  scep- 
tre (surmounted  by  a  cross),  which  the  archbishop  places  in  the  sovereign's 
right  hand  at  coronation  ;  the  rod  of  equity  (surmounted  by  a  dove),  which  he 
places  in  the  left  hand  ;  several  other  sceptres ;  the  pointless  sword  of  Mercy, 
the  swords  of  Justice,  and  the  sacred  vessels  used  at  coronation.  Here  is  also 
the  famous  Koh-i-noor  diamond,  the  "  Mountain  of  Light,"  which  was  taken  at 
Lahore  in  India.  The  ancient  Martin  or  Jewel  Tower,  where  Anne  Boleyn  was 
imprisoned,  is  near  by ;  the  barracks  are  on  the  north  side  of  the  Tower,  and 


THE    TOWER    OF  LONDON. 


193 


behind  them  are  the  Brick  and  Bowyer  Towers,  in  the  former  of  which  Lady 
Jane  Grey  was  imprisoned,  and  in  the  latter  the  Duke  of  Clarence  was  drown- 
ed ;  but  only  the  basements  of  the  old  towers  remain.  The  Tower  Chapel,  or 
church  of  St.  Peter's,  was  used  for  the  cemetery  of  the  distinguished  prisoners 
who  were  beheaded  there,  and  in  its  little  graveyard  lie  scores  of  headless 
corpses,  as  well  as  the  remains  of  several  constables  of  the  Tower.  In  front 
of  it  was  the  place  of  execution,  marked  by  an  oval  of  dark  stones.  The 
Beauchamp  Tower  stands  at  the  middle  of  the  west  side  of  the  fortress,  built 
in  the  thirteenth  century  and  used  as  a  prison;  there  are  numerous  inscrip- 
tions and  devices  on  the  walls  made  by  the  prisoners.  Here  Lady  Jane  Grey's 
husband  carved  in  antique  letters  "  lane."  In  the  Bell  Tower,  at  the  south-western 


THE  CHURCH  OF  ST.  PETER,  ON  TOWER  GREEK. 

angle,  the  princess  Elizabeth  was  confined,  and  in  the  present  century  it  was  the 
prison  of  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  committed  for  commenting  in  print  on  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  House  of  Commons.  The  Tower  Subway  is  a  tunnel  con- 
structed recently  under  the  Thames  from  Tower  Hill  to  Tooley  Street  for 
passenger  traffic.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  constable  of  the  Tower  at 
one  time,  and  its  barracks  are  sometimes  occupied  by  as  many  as  eight  thou- 
sand troops.  This  ancient  fortress  always  has  a  profound  interest  for  visitors, 
and  no  part  of  it  more  than  the  Water-Gate,  leading  from  the  Thames,  the 
noted  "Traitor's  Gate,"  through  which  have  gone  so  many  victims  of  despotism 
and  tyranny — heroes  who  have  passed 

"  On  through  that  gate,  through  which  before 
Went  Sydney,  Russell,  Raleigh,  Cranmer,  More." 


i94 


E  \ULA.\ I),  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE    LOLLARDS    AND    LAMBETH. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  primate  of  England,  who  crowns  the 
sovereigns,  has  his  palace  at  Lambeth,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Thames, 
opposite  Westminster,  and  its  most  noted  portion  is  the  Lollards'  Tower.' 

The  Lollards,  named 
from  their  low  tone 
of  singing  at  inter- 
ments, were  a  nu- 


merous   sect 


a 

exert- 


ing great  in- 
fluence   in 
the     four- 
teenth   cen 
tury.        The 
Church  per- 
\secuted 
i-5  them,    and 


• 


•    :-^^C^_ 

""  r~       ./  -       T      -  •   -  "  ~    ?    '•   •*•••-? 

'  I  •  .  /y       -, _ 'l.     .-t  .  -.>.<".?"-'  *••'.•    •     • 

THE  LOLLARDS'  TOWER,  LAMBETH  PALACE 

many  suffered  death,  and  their  prison  was 
the  Lollards'  Tower,  built  in  1435,  adjoin- 
ing the  archiepiscopal  palace.  This  prison 
is  reached  by  a  narrow  stairway,  and  at  the 
entrance  is  a  small  doorway  barely  sufficient  for  one  person  to  pass  at  a  time. 
The  palace  itself  was  built  in  the  clays  of  the  Tudors,  and  the  gatehouse  of 
red  brick  in  1499.  The  chapel  is  Early  English,  its  oldest  portion  built  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  All  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  since  that  time  have 
been  consecrated  there.  There  is  a  great  hall  and  library,  and  the  history  of 


•\v,  : 


c/it'KCff  A\n  ST.  FSKIDE'S. 


'95 


this  famous  religious  palace  is  most  in- 
teresting. At  the  red  brick  gatehouse 
the  dole  is  distributed  by  the  archbishop, 
as  from  time  immemorial,  to  the  indigent 
parishioners.  Tiiiriy  poor  widows  on  three 
days  of  the  week  each  get  a  loaf,  meat,  and 
two  and  a  half  pence,  while  soup  is  also 
given  them  and  to  other  poor  persons. 
The  archbishops  maintain  this  charity  care- 
fully, and  their  o'ifi-e  is  the  head  of  the 
Anglican  Church. 

Bow   Church,    or    St.    Mary  le  Bow     on 


J.T.    MARY-LE-BOW. 


5,    FLEET   STREET. 


Cheapside,  is  one  of  the  best  known 
churches  of  London.  It  is  surmounted 
by  one  of  the  most  admired  of  Wren's 
spires,  which  is  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  high.  There  is  a  dragon  upon 
the  spire  nearly  nine  feet  long.  It  is  the 
sure  criterion  of  a  London  Cockney  to 
have  been  born  within  sound  of  "Bow 


196  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


Bells."  A  church  stood  here  in  very  early  times,  said  to  have  been  built  upon 
arches,  from  which  is  derived  the  name  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  of  Arches, 
the  supreme  court  of  the  province  of  Canterbury,  a  tribunal  first  held  in 
Bow  Church.  Another  of  Wren's  noted  churches  is  St.  Bride's,  on  Fleet 
Street,  remarkable  for  its  beautiful  steeple,  originally  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  feet  high.  It  has  been  much  damaged  by  lightning.  The  east  window 
of  St.  Bride's  is  a  copy  on  stained  glass  of  Rubens'  painting  of  "The  Descent 
from  the  Cross."  This  church  contains  several  famous  tombs. 

WHITEHALL. 

We  will  now  take  a  brief  view  of  Westminster,  the  region  of  palaces,  and 
first  of  all  pause  at  the  most  ancient  and  famous  of  them,  Whitehall,  of  which 
only  the  Banqueting  House  remains.  This  was  originally  the  residence  of 


THE   CHAPEL    ROYAL,    WHITEHALL. 


the  Archbishops  of  York,  and  here  lived  Cardinal  Wolsey  in  great  splendor 
until  his  downfall,  when  Henry  VIII.  took  Whitehall  for  his  palace  and  made 
large  additions  to  the  buildings,  entering  it  as  a  residence  with  his  queen, 
Anne  Boleyn.  The  sovereigns  of  England  lived  in  Whitehall  for  nearly  two 
centuries,  and  in  Charles  I.'s  reign  it  contained  the  finest  picture-gallery  in  the 
kingdom.  This  unhappy  king  was  beheaded  in  front  of  the  Banqueting 


WHITEHALL. 


'97 


House,  being  led  to  the  scaffold  out  of  one  of  the  windows.  James  II.  left 
Whitehall  when  he  abandoned  the  kingdom,  and  accidental  fires  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century  consumed  the  greater  part  of  the  buildings. 
The  Banqueting 
House,  which  is 
one  hundred  and 
eleven  feet  long 
and  a  fine  struc- 
ture of  Portland 
stone,  is  all  that 
remains,  and  it  is 
now  used  as  a 
royal  chapel, 
where  one  of  the 
queen's  chaplains 
preaches  every 
Sunday.  Rubens' 
paintings  com- 
memorating King 
James  I.  are  still 
on  the  ceiling. 

In  the  district  of 
Whitehall  is  also 
the  army  head- 
quarters and  office 
of  thecommander- 
in-chief,  the  Duke 
of  Cambridge — 
now  known  popu- 
larly as  the"  Horse 
Guards,"  because 

front  of  it  two 


in 

mou  nted 


horse- 


IXTHRIOK    OF    THE   CHAPEL    ROYAL    (BANQUETING-HALL),    WHITEHALL. 

men  stand  on  duty  all  day  in  horse-boxes  on  either  side  of  the  entrance.  The 
clock  surmounting  the  building  in  its  central  tower  is  said  to  be  the  standard 
timekeeper  of  London  for  the  West  End.  A  carriage-way  leads  through  the 
centre  of  the  building  to  St.  James  Park,  a  route  which  only  the  royal  family- 
are  permitted  to  use.  Not  far  away  are  the  other  government  offices — the 
Admiralty  Building  and  also  "  Downing  Street."  where  resides  the  premier  and 


198 


E.VGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


where  the  secretaries  of  state 
have  their  offices  and  the  Cab- 
inet meets.  Here  are  the  Treas- 
ury Building  and  the  Foreign 
Office,  and  from  this  spot  Eng- 
land may  be  said  to  be  ruled.  In 
this  neighborhood  also  is  Scot- 
land Yard,  the  head- 


I  ,£ 


THIC    HOKSr.   (iUAKUS,    FROM 
THK    PARADE  GROUND. 

quarters  of  the  London  Metropolitan  Po- 
lice, where  the  chief  commissioner  sits  and 
where  lost  articles  are  restored  to  their 

owners  when  found  in  cabs  or  omnibuses— an  important  branch  of  police  duty. 

It  obtained  its  name  from  b-ing  the  residence  of  the  Scottish  kings  when  they 

visited  London. 

ST.   JAMES   PALACE. 

When  the  palace  in  Whitehall  was  destroyed  the  sovereigns  made  their  resi- 
dence chiefly  at  St.  James  Palace,  which  stands  on  the  north  side  of  St.  James 
Park.  This  building  is  more  remarkable  for  its  historical  associations  than  for 
its  architecture.  It  was  originally  a  leper's  hospital,  but  Henry  VIII.,  obtaining 
possession  of  it,  pulled  down  the  old  buildings  and  laid  out  an  extensive  park, 
using  it  as  a  semi-rural  residence  called  the  Manor  House.  Its  gatehouse  and 
turrets  were  built  for  him  from  plans  by  Holbein.  Queen  Mary  died  in  it,  and 
in  its  chapel  Charles  I.  attended  service  on  the  morning  of  his  execution,  and 
we  are  told  that  he  walked  from  the  palace  through  the  park,  guarded  by  a 
regiment  of  troops,  to  Whitehall  to  be  beheaded.  Here  lived  General  Monk 
when  he  planned  the  Restoration,  and  William  III.  first  received  the  allegiance 
of  the  English  nobles  here  in  1688,  but  it  was  not  used  regularly  for  state 


BUCKINGHAM  PALACE. 


I99 


ceremonies  until  Whitehall  was  burned.     From  this  official  use  of  St    James 

Palace  comes  the  title  of  "The  Court  of  St.  James."     Queen  Anne,  the  four 

Georges,  and  William  III.  resided  in 

the  palace,  and    in  its  chapel  Queen 

Victoria  was    married,   but  she    only 

holds  court  drawing-rooms  and  levees 

there,  using  Buckingham    Palace    for 
her  residence.     Passing  through  the 
gateway  into  the  quadrangle,  the  vis- 
itor enters  the  Color  Court,  so  called 
from  the  colors  of  the  household  reg- 
iment   on    duty    being    placed    there. 
The  state  apartments  are  on  the  south 
front.     The  great  sight  of  St.  James 
is  the    queen's  drawing-room    in   the 
height  of  the  season,  when  presenta- 
tions are   made  at  court.      On   such 
occasions  the  "Yeomen  of  the  Guard," 
a  body  instituted  by  Henry  VII.,  line 
the  chamber,  and  the  "  Gentlemen-at- 
Arms,"  instituted  by  Henry  VIII.,  are 
also  on  duty,  wearing  a   uniform   of 
scarlet  and  gold    and   carrying  small 
battle-axes  covered  with  crimson  vel- 
vet.    Each   body  has  a  captain,   who 

is  a  nobleman,  these  offices  being  highly  prized  and  usually  changed  with  the 
ministry. 


GATEWAY   OF   ST.   JAMES    PALACE. 


BUCKINGHAM    PALACE. 

We  have  been  to  the  queen's  country-home  at  Windsor,  and  will  now  visit 
her  town-house,  Buckingham  Palace,  which  is  also  in  St.  James  Park.  Here 
stood  a  plain  brick  mansion,  built  in  1703  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  in 
which  was  gathered  the  famous  library  of  George  III.,  which  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  house  was  described  as  "dull,  dowdy,  and  decent,"  but 
in  1825  it  was  greatly  enlarged  and  improved,  and  Queen  Victoria  took  pos- 
session of  the  new  palace  in  1837,  and  has  lived  there  ever  since.  Her  increas- 
ing family  necessitated  the  construction  of  a  large  addition  in  1846,  and  a  few 
years  afterwards  the  Marble  Arch,  which  till  then  formed  the  entrance,  was 
moved  from  Buckingham  Palace  to  Hyde  Park,  and  a  fine  ball-room  construct- 


200  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


ed  instead.  This  palace  contains  a  gorgeously-decorated  throne-room  and  a 
fine  picture-gallery,  the  grand  staircase  leading  up  to  the  state-apartments  being 
of  marble.  The  gardens  of  Buckingham  Palace  cover  about  forty  acres :  in 
them  are  a  pavilion  and  an  attractive  chapel,  the  latter  having  been  formerly  a 
conservatory.  At  the  rear  of  the  palace,  concealed  from  view  by  a  high  mound, 
are  the  queen's  stables  or  mews,  so  called  because  the  royal  stables  were  for- 


IXKINCiHAM    PALACE.    GARDEN    FRONT. 


merly  built  in  a  place  used  for  keeping  falcons.  In  these  stables  is  the  gaudily- 
decorated  state  coach,  built  in  i  762  at  a  cost  of  $38,000.  Marlborough  House, 
the  town-residence  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  adjoins  St.  James  Palace,  but  is  not 
very  attractive.  It  was  originally  built  for  the  first  Duke  of  Marlborough,  who 
died  in  it,  and  is  said  to  have  been  designed  by  Wren,  having  afterwards  been 
enlarged  when  it  became  a  royal  residence. 

KENSINGTON    PALACE. 

Standing  on  the  west  side  of  the  Kensington  Gardens  is  the  plain,  irregular 
red  brick  structure  known  as  Kensington  Palace,  which  was  originally  Lord 
Chancellor  Finch's  house.  William  111.  bought  it  from  his  grandson,  and 
greatly  enlarged  it.  Here  died  William  and  Mary,  Queen  Anne,  and  George 


PA  LA  CE. 


2OI 


II.,  and  here  Victoria  was  born.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  recent  event 
that  Kensington  Palace  has  witnessed  was  the  notification  to  this  princess  oi 
the  death  of  William  IV.  He  died  on  the  night  of  June  19,  1837,  and  at  two 
o'clock  the  next  morning  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  lord  cham- 
berlain set  out  to  announce  the  event  to  the  young  sovereign.  They  reached 
Kensington  Palace  about  five  o'clock,  early,  but  in  broad  daylight,  and  they 


KENSINGTON    PALACE,    WEST   FRONT. 

knocked  and  rang  and  made  a  commotion  for  a  considerable  time  before  they 
could  arouse  the  porter  at  the  gate.  Being  admitted,  they  were  kept  waiting 
in  the  courtyard,  and  then,  seeming  to  be  forgotten  by  everybody,  they  turned 
into  a  lower  room  and  again  rang  and  pounded.  Servants  appearing,  they 
desired  that  an  attendant  might  be  sent  to  inform  the  princess  that  they 
requested  an  audience  on  business  of  importance.  Then  there  was  more 
delay,  and  another  ringing  to  learn  the  cause,  which  ultimately  brought  the 
attendant,  who  stated  that  the  princess  was  in  such  a  sweet  sleep  she  could 
not  venture  to  disturb  her.  Thoroughly  vexed,  they  said,  "  We  are  come  to 
the  queen  on  business  of  state,  and  even  her  sleep  must  give  way  to  that" 


26 


202  l-:\GLA.\l>,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


This  produced  a  speedy  result,  for,  to  prove  that  it  was  not  she  who  kept  them 
waiting,  Victoria  in  a  few  minutes  came  into  the  room  in  a  loose  white  night- 
gown and  shawl,  with  her  hair  falling  upon  her  shoulders  and  her  feet  in  slip- 
pers, shedding  tears,  but  perfectly  collected.  She  immediately  summoned  her 
council  at  Kensington  Palace,  but  most  of  the  summonses  were  not  received 
by  those  to  whom  they  were  sent  till  after  the  early  hour  fixed  for  the  meeting. 
She  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and,  as  a  lady  who  was  then  at  court  writes, 
"  she  received  first  the  homage  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  who  was  not  King 
of  Hanover  when  he  knelt  to  her ;  the  Duke  of  Sussex  rose  to  perform  the 
same  ceremony,  but  the  queen  with  admirable  grace  stood  up,  and,  preventing 
him  from  kneeling,  kissed  him  on  the  forehead.  The  crowd  was  so  great,  the 
arrangements  were  so  ill  made,  that  my  brothers  told  me  the  scene  of  swearing 
allegiance  to  their  young  sovereign  was  more  like  that  of  the  bidding  at  an 
auction  than  anything  else." 

THE    HOUSES    OF    PARLIAMENT. 

The  finest  of  all  the  public  buildings  of  the  British  government  in  London, 
the  Houses  of  Parliament,  are  on  the  bank  of  the  Thames  in  Westminster, 
and  are  of  modern  construction.  The  old  Parliament  Houses  were  burnt 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  and  Sir  Charles  Barry  designed  the  present  magnificent 
palace,  which  covers  nearly  eight  acres  and  cost  $20,000,000.  The  architecture 
is  in  the  Tudor  style,  and  the  grand  facade  stretches  nine  hundred  and  forty  feet 
along  a  terrace  fronting  on  the  Thames.  It  is  richly  decorated  with  statues 
of  kings  and  queens  and  heraldic  devices,  and  has  two  pinnacled  towers  at 
each  end  and  two  in  the  centre.  At  the  northern  end  one  of  the  finest  bridges 
across  the  Thames — the  Westminster  Bridge — is  built,  and  here  rises  the  Clock 
Tower,  forty  feet  square  and  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  copied  in 
great  measure  from  a  similar  tower  at  Bruges.  A  splendid  clock  and  bells  are 
in  the  tower,  the  largest  bell,  which  strikes  the  hours,  weighing  eight  tons  and 
the  clock-dials  being  thirty  feet  in  diameter.  The  grandest  feature  of  this 
palace,  however,  is  the  Victoria  Tower,  at  the  south-western  angle,  eighty  feet 
square  and  three  hundred  and  forty  feet  high.  Here  is-  the  sovereign's  entrance 
to  the  House  of  Peers,  through  a  magnificent  archway  sixty-five  feet  high  and 
having  inside  the  porch  statues  of  the  patron  saints  of  the  three  kingdoms— 
St.  George,  St.  Andrew,  and  St.  Patrick — and  one  of  Queen  Victoria,  between 
the  figures  of  Justice  and  Mercy.  From  the  centre  of  the  palace  rises  a  spire 
over  the  dome  of  the  Central  Hall  three  hundred  feet  high.  In  constructing 
the  palace  the  old  Westminster  Hall  has  been  retained,  so  that  it  forms  a 
grand  public  entrance,  leading  through  St.  Stephen's  Porch  to  St.  Stephen's 


THE  HOUSES   OF  PARLIAMEXT. 


no; 


Hall,  which  is  ninety-five  feet  long  and  fifty-six  feet  high,  where  statues  have 
been  placed  of  many  of  the  great  statesmen  and  judges  of  England.  From 
this  a  passage  leads  to  the  Central  Hall,  an  octagonal  chamber  seventy  feet 
across  and  seventy-five  feet  high,  with  a  beautiful  groined  roof.  Corridors 
adorned  with  frescoes  stretch  north  and  south  from  this  Central  Hall  to  the 
House  of  Commons 
and  the  House  of 
Peers.  The  former 
is  sixty-two  feet  long, 
and  constructed  with 
especial  attention  to 
acoustics,  but  it  only 
has  seats  for  a  little 
over  two -thirds  of 
the  membership  of 
the  House,  and  the 
others  must  manage 
as  they  can.  The 
Speaker's  chair  is  at 
the  north  end,  and 
the  ministers  sit  on 
his  right  hand  and 
the  opposition  on 
the  left.  Outside 
the  House  are  the 
lobbies,  where  the 
members  go  on  a 
division.  The  in- 
terior of  the  House 
is  plain,  excepting 
the  ceiling,  which  is 
richly  decorated. 

The  House  of  Peers  is  most  gorgeously  ornamented,  having  on  either  side  six 
lofty  stained-glass  windows  with  portraits  of  sovereigns,  these  windows  being 
lighted  at  night  from  the  outside.  The  room  is  ninety-one  feet  long,  and  at 
each  end  has  three  frescoed  archways  representing  religious  and  allegorical 
subjects.  Niches  in  the  walls  contain  statues  of  the  barons  who  compelled 
King  John  to  sign  Magna  Charta.  There  are  heraldic  devices  on  the  ceilings 
and  walls,  and  the  throne  stands  at  the  southern  end.  The  "  Woolsack,"  where 


,'ICTORIA    TOWKI 


204  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 

sits  the  lord  chancellor,  who  presides  over  the  House,  is  a  seat  near  the  middle 
of  the  room,  covered  with  crimson  cloth.  When  the  sovereign  comes  to  the 
palace  and  enters  the  gateway  at  the  Victoria  Tower,  she  is  ushered  into  the 
Norman  Porch,  containing  statues  and  frescoes  representing  the  Norman 


OF   THE    HOUSE   OF    COMMON'S. 


sovereigns,  and  then  enters  the  Robing  Room,  splendidly  decorated  and 
having  frescoes  representing  the  legends  of  King  Arthur.  When  the  cere- 
mony of  robing  is  completed,  she  proceeds  to  the  House  of  Peers  through 
the  longest  room  in  the  palace,  the  Victoria  Gallery,  one  hundred  and  ten 
feet  long  and  forty-five  feet  wide  and  high.  Historical  frescoes  adorn  the 


HYDE  PARK. 


205 


walls  and  the  ceiling  is  richly  gilded.  This  gallery  leads  to  the  Prince's  Cham- 
ber, also  splendidly  decorated,  and  having  two  doorways  opening  into  the 
House  of  Peers,  one  on  each  side  of  the  throne.  In  this  palace  for  six  months 
in  every  year  the  British  Parliament  meets. 


HYDE    PARK. 


When  the  Marble  Arch  was  taken  from  Buckingham  Palace,  it  was  removed 
to  Hyde  Park,  of  which  it  forms  one  of  the  chief  entrances  at  Cumberland 


THE    MARBLE   ARCH,    HYDE   PARK. 

Gate.  This  magnificent  gate,  which  cost  $40x3,000,  leads  into  probably  the  best 
known  of  the  London  parks,  the  ancient  manor  of  Hyde.  It  was  an  early 
resort  of  fashion,  for  the  Puritans  in  their  time  complained  of  it  as  the  resort 
of  "  most  shameful  powdered-hair  men  and  painted  women."  It  covers  about 
three  hundred  and  ninety  acres,  and  has  a  pretty  sheet  of  water  called  the 
Serpentine.  The  fashionable  drive  is  on  the  southern  side,  and  here  also  is 
the  famous  road  for  equestrians  known  as  Rotten  Row,  which  stretches  nearly 
a  mile  and  a  half.  On  a  fine  afternoon  in  the  season  the  display  on  these  roads 


206 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


THE    ALBERT    MEMORIAL. 


is  grand.  In  Hyde  Park  are  held  the  great  military  reviews  and  the  mass- 
meetings  of  the  populace,  who  occasionally  display  their  discontent  by  batter- 
ing down  the  railings.  At  Hyde  Park  Corner  is  a  fine  entrance-gate,  with  the 
Green  Park  Gate  opposite,  surmounted  by  the  Wellington  bronze  equestrian 
statue.  The  most  magnificent  decoration  of  Hyde  Park  is  the  Albert  Me- 
morial, situated  near  the  Prince's  Gate  on  the  southern  side.  The  upper 


HYDE   PARK. 


207 


portion  is  a  cross,  supported  by  three  successive  tiers  of  emblematic  gilt  fig- 
ures, and  at  the  four  angles  are  noble  groups  representing  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe.     This  was  the  masterpiece  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  and  is  considered 
the    most     splendid 
monument  of  mod- 
ern times.    It  marks 
the  site  of  the  Crys- 
tal Palace  Exhibition 
of    1851,    in     which 
Prince   Albert   took 
great  interest:  there 
are  upon  it  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-nine 
life-size  portrait  fig- 
ures of  illustrious  art- 
ists, composers,  and 
poets.while  under  the 
grand  canopy  in  the 
centre  is  the  seated 
figure  of  the  prince. 
Opposite  is  the  Royal 
Albert  Hall,  and  be- 
hind  this   the  mag- 
nificent buildings  of 
the  South  Kensing- 
ton  Museum,  which 
grew  out  of  the  Ex- 
hibition of  1851,  and 
the    site     for    which 
was  bought  with  the 
surplus  fund  of  that 
great  display.     This  is  a  national  museum  for  art  and  manufactures  allied  to 
art.     Its  collections  are  becoming  enormous  and  of  priceless  value,  and  include 
many  fine  paintings,  among  them  Raphael's  cartoons,  with  galleries  of  sculp- 
ture and  antiquities  and  museums  of  patent  models.     There  are  art-schools 
and  libraries,   and   the   buildings,   which   have   been   constructing   for  several 
years,  are  of  rare  architectural  merit.     The  Royal  Albert  Hall  is  a  vast  am- 
phitheatre of  great  magnificence  devoted  to  exhibitions  of  industry,  art,  and 
music.     It  is  of  oval  form,  and  its  external  frieze  and  cornice  are  modelled 


THE    PRINCIPAL    ENTRANCE,    NEW    MUSEUM    OF    NATURAL    HISTORY,    SOUTH 

KENSINGTON. 


208 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


after  the  Elgin  Marbles.      Opposite  it  are  the  gardens  of  the  Horticultural 
Society. 

A    VIEW    IN    THE    POULTRY. 

Going  down  into  the  heart  of  the  old  city  of  London,  and  standing  in  the 
street  called  the  Poultry,  the  Bank  of  England  and  the  Royal  Exchange  are  seen 
over  on  the  other  side,  with  Threadneedle  Street  between  them,  and  Lombard 

Street  on  the  right  hand,  the  region 
that  controls  the  monetary  affairs  of 
the  world.  Turning  round,  the  Man- 
sion House  is  behind  the  observer,  this 
being  the  lord  mayor's  residence  and 
the  head-quarters  of  the  city  govern- 
ment. The  Royal  Exchange  has  been 
thrice  built  and  twice  burned — first  in 
the  great  fire  of  1666,  and  afterwards 
in  1838.  The  present  Exchange,  cost- 
ing $900,000,  was  opened  in  1844,  and 
is  three  hundred  and  eight  feet  long, 
with  a  fine  portico  on  the  western  front 
ninety-six  feet  wide,  and  supported  by  twelve  columns,  each  forty-one  feet 
high.  Within  is  an  open  area  surrounded  by  an  arcade,  while  at  the  rear  is 
Lloyds,  the  underwriters'  offices,  where  the  business  of  insuring  ships  is 


ROYAL  EXCHANGE. 


BANK  OF  ENGLAND. 


transacted  in  a  hall  ninety-eight  feet  long  and  forty  feet  wide.  Wellington's 
statue  stands  in  front  of  the  Exchange,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  central  area 
is  a  statue  of  Queen  Victoria.  The  Bank  of  England,  otherwise  known  as  the 


A    VIE\\-  7.V   THE  POULTRY. 


209 


"Old  Lady  of  Threadneedle  Street,"  covers  a  quadrangular  space  of  about 
four  acres,  with  a  street  on  each  side.  It  is  but  one  story  high,  and  has  no 
windows  on  the  outside,  the  architecture  being  unattractive.  The  interior  is 
well  adapted  for  the  bank  offices,  which  are  constructed  around  nine  courts. 
The  bank  has  been  built  in  bits,  and  gradually  assumed  its  present  size  and 
appearance.  It  was  founded  in  1691  by  William  Paterson,  but  it  did  not 
remove  to  its  present  site  until  1734.  Its  affairs  are  controlled  by  a  governor, 
deputy  governor,  and  twenty-four  direct- 
ors, and  the  bank  shares  of  $500  par, 
paying  about  ten  per  cent,  dividends 
per  annum,  sell  at  about  $1400.  It  reg- 
ulates the  discount  rate,  gauging  it  so 
as  to  maintain  its  gold  reserves,  and  it 
also  keeps  the  coinage  in  good  order  by 
weighing  every  coin  that  passes  through 
the  bank,  and  casting  out  the  light  ones 
by  an  ingenious  machine  that  will  test 
thirty-five  thousand  in  a  day.  It  also 
prints  its  own  notes  upon  paper  con- 
taining its  own  water-mark,  which  is  the  chief  reliance  against  forgery.  The 
bank  transacts  the  government  business  in  connection  with  the  British  public 
debt  of  about  $3,850,000,000,  all  in  registered  stock,  and  requiring  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  separate  accounts  to  be  kept.  Its  deposits  aggre- 
gate at  least  $130,000,000,  and  its  capital  is  572,765.000.  The  bank  is  the 
great  British  storehouse  for  gold,  keeping  on  deposit  the  reserves  of  the  joint- 
stock  banks  and  the  private  bankers  of  London,  and  it  will  have  in  its  vaults 
at  one  time  eighty  to  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  gold  in  ingots,  bullion, 
or  coin,  this  being  the  basis  on  which  the  entire  banking  system  of  England  is 
conducted.  It  keeps  an  accurate  history  of  every  bank-note  that  is  issued, 
redeeming  each  note  that  comes  back  into  the  bank  in  the  course  of  business, 
and  keeping  all  the  redeemed  and  cancelled  notes.  The  earliest  notes  were 
written  with  a  pen,  and  from  this  they  have  been  improved  until  they  have  be- 
come the  almost  square  white  pieces  of  paper  of  to-day,  printed  in  bold  German 
text,  that  are  so  well  known,  yet  are  unlike  any  other  bank-notes  in  exist- 
ence. Around  the  large  elliptical  table  in  the  bank  parlor  the  directors 
meet  every  Thursday  to  regulate  its  affairs,  and — not  forgetting  they  are 
true  Englishmen — eat  a  savory  dinner,  the  windows  of  the  parlor  looking 
out  upon  a  little  gem  of  a  garden  in  the  very  heart  of  London.  The  Man- 
sion House,  built  in  1740,  is  fronted  by  a  Corinthian  portico,  with  six  fluted  col- 


2IO 


/•:.V( //,.•/ A7>,  1'ICTL'KESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


umns  and  a  pediment  of  allegorical  sculpture.  Within  is  the  Egyptian  Hall, 
where  the  lord  mayor  fulfils  what  is  generally  regarded  as  his  chief  duty,  the 
giving  of  grand  banquets.  He  can  invite  four  hundred  persons  to  the  tables 
in  this  spacious  hall,  which  is  ornamented  by  several  statues  by  British  sculp- 
tors, over  $40,000  having  been  expended  for  its  ornamentation.  The  lord 
mayor  also  has  a  ball-room  and  other  apartments,  including  his  Venetian  par- 
lor and  the  justice  room  where  he  sits  as  a  magistrate.  From  the  open  space 
in  front  of  the  Mansion  House  diverge  streets  running  to  all  parts  of  London 
and  the  great  bridges  over  the  Thames. 

THE    INNS    OF    COURT. 

The  four  Inns  of  Court  in  London  have  been  described  as  the  palladiums 
of  English  liberty — the  Inner  Temple,  Middle  Temple,  Lincoln's  Inn,  and  Gray's 

-  Inn.  There  an-  over  tlnvr  thou- 
sand barristers  members  of  these 
Inns,  and  the  best  known  is  prob- 
ably Lincoln's  Inn,  which  is  named 
after  De  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln, 
who  died  in  1312,  and  had  his 
house  on  its  site,  his  device,  the 
lion  rampant,  being  adopted  by 
the  Inn.  The  ancient  gatehouse, 
which  opens  from  Chancery  Lane, 
is  nearly  four  hundred  years  old. 
The  Inn  has  an  old  hall  dating 
from  1506,  and  also  a  fine  mod- 
ern hall,  the  Newcastle  House, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long, 
built  in  Tudor  style,  with  stained- 
glass  windows  and  having  life-size 
figures  of  several  eminent  mem- 
bers in  canopied  niches.  Here  is 
Hogarth's  celebrated  picture  of 
"  Paul  before  Felix."  The  Inn  has 
a  valuable  library,  and  among  its 
members  has  counted  More,  Hale, 
Selden,  Mansfield,  and  Hardwicke. 
Across  Fleet  Street,  and  between  it  and  the  Thames,  is  the  Temple,  a  lane 
dividing  it  into  the  Inner  and  the  Middle  Temple,  while  obstructing  Fleet  Street 


THE   LAW    COURTS. 


THE   INNS   OF  COURT. 


21  I 


there  was  the  old  Temple  Bar,  one  of  the  ancient  city  gates,  which  has  recently 
been  removed.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  Knights  Templar,  who  existed 
here  seven  centuries  ago;  and  they 
afterwards  gave  the  site 
law-students  who  wished 


to  certain 
to  live  in 
the  suburbs  away  from  the  noise  of 
the  city.  Here  in  seclusion,  for  the 
gates  were  locked  at  night,  the  gen- 
tlemen of  these  societies  in  a  bygone 
age  were  famous  for  the  masques  and 


revels  given  in  their  halls.  Kings  and 
judges  attended  them,  and  many  were 
the  plays  and  songs  and  dances  that 
then  enlivened  the  dull  routine  of  the 
law.  The  Inner  Temple  has  for  its 
device  a  winged  horse,  and  the  Mid- 
dle Temple  a  lamb.  Some  satirist 
has  written  of  these — 

"  Their  clients  may  infer  from  thence 

How  just  is  their  profession  : 
The  lamb  sets  forth  their  innocence, 
The  horse  their  expedition." 


Here  is  the  old  Templar  Church  of  SIR  PAUL  PINDAR'S  HOUSE  IN  BISHOPSGATE  STREET. 
St.  Mary,  built  in  1185  and  enlarged  in  1240.  Formerly,  the  lawyers  waited 
for  their  clients  in  this  ancient  church.  During  recent  years  England  has 
erected  magnificent  buildings  for  her  law  courts.  The  new  Palace  of  Justice 
fronts  about  five  hundred  feet  on  the  Strand,  near  the  site  of  Temple  Bar,  which 
was  taken  away  because  it  impeded  the  erection  of  the  new  courts,  and  they 
cover  six  acres,  with  ample  gardens  back  from  the  street,  the  wings  extending 
about  five  hundred  feet  northward  around  them.  A  fine  clock-tower  sur- 
mounts the  new  courts.  In  this  part  of  the  Strand  are  many  ancient  struc- 
tures, above  which  the  Palace  of  Justice  grandly  towers,  and  some  of  them 
have  quaint  balconies  overlooking  the  street. 

While  in  old  London  the  feasting  that  has  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  muni- 
cipal corporation  cannot  be  forgotten,  and  on  Bishopsgate  Street  we  find  the 
scene  of  many  of  the  famous  public  dinners,  savory  with  turtle-soup  and  white- 
bait— the  London  Tavern.  Not  far  distant,  and  on  the  same  street,  is  Sir  Paul 
Pindar's  House,  a  quaint  structure,  now  falling  into  decay,  that  gives  an  excel- 
lent idea  of  mediaeval  domestic  architecture. 


21  2 


ENGLAND,  /'/CTl'KESO (.'!•:  .l.\7>   DESCRIPTll'l:. 


THE    BRITISH     MUSEUM. 

Fronting  upon  Great  Russell  Street,  to  which  various  smaller  streets  lead 
northward  from  Oxford  Street,  is  that  vast  treasure-house  of  knowledge  whose 
renown  is  world-wide,  the  British  Museum.  The  buildings  and  their  court- 
yards cover  seven  acres,  and  have  cost  nearly  $5,000,000  to  construct.  The 
front  is  three  hundred  and  seventy  feet  long,  the  entrance  being  under  a  grand 
portico  supported  by  rows  of  columns  forty-five  feet  high.  This  vast  museum 
originated  from  a  provision  in  the  will  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane  in  the  last  century, 
who  had  made  a  valuable  collection  and  directed  that  it  be  sold  to  the  govern- 
ment for  $100,000.  Parliament,  accepting  the  offer,  in  i  753  created  the  museum 
to  take  charge  of  this  and  some  other  collections.  The  present  site,  then 
Montagu  House,  was  selected  for  the  museum,  but  it  was  not  until  1828  that 
the  present  buildings  were  begun,  and  they  have  only  recently  been  finished. 
The  reading-room,  the  latest  addition,  is  the  finest  structure  of  its  kind  in  the 
world,  being  a  circular  hall  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  diameter  and  covered 
with  a  dome  one  hundred  and  six  feet  high.  It  cost  $750,000,  and  its  library  is 
believed  to  be  the  largest  in  the  world,  containing  seven  hundred  thousand 
volumes,  and  increasing  at  the  rate  of  twenty  thousand  volumes  annually.  Its 
collection  of  prints  is  also  of  rare  value  and  vast  extent,  and  by  far  the  finest 
in  the  world. 

SOME    LONDON    SCENES. 

Let  us  now  take  a  brief  glance  at  some  well-known  London  sights.  The 
two  great  heroes  who  are  commemorated  in  modern  London  are  Wellington 


WATERLOO    BRIDGE. 


and  Nelson.    Trafalgar  Square  commemorates  Nelson's  death  and  greatest  vic- 
tory, the  Nelson  Column  standing  in  the  centre,  with  Landseer's  colossal  lions 


SOME  LONDON 


21. 


reposing  at  its  base.  Passing  east- 
ward along  the  Strand,  beyond  Cha- 
ring Cross  and  Somerset  House,  we 
come  to  Wellington  Street,  which  leads 
to  Waterloo  Bridge  across  the  Thames. 
This  admirable  structure,  the  master- 
piece of  John  Rennie,  cost  $5,000,000, 
and  was  opened  on  the  anniversary 
of  the  battle  of  Waterloo  in  1817.  It 
is  of  granite,  and  with  the  approaches 
nearly  a  half  mile  long,  crossing  the 
river  upon  nine  arches,  each  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  span.  Pass- 
ing westward  from  Trafalgar  Square, 
we  enter  Pall  Mall,  perhaps  the  most 
striking  of  the  London  streets  in  point 
of  architecture.  Here  are  club-houses 


SCHOMBERG    HOUSE. 


STATl'F.    OF 


and  theatres,  statues  and  columns,  and 
the  street  swarms  with  historical  asso- 
ciations. On  the  south  side  are  the 
Reform  and  Carlton  Clubs,  the  head- 
quarters respectively  of  the  Liberal  and 
Conservative  parties,  and  a  little  be- 
yond, on  the  same  side,  the  row  of 
buildings  of  all  sizes  and  shapes  making 
up  the  War  Office.  Among  them  is  a 
quaint  old  Queen-Anne  mansion  of 
brick,  with  a  curious  pediment  and 
having  many  windows.  This  is  Schom- 
berg  House,  shorn  of  one  wing,  but 
still  retained  among  so  much  that  is 
grand  around  it.  Also  in  Pall  Mall 
is  Foley's  celebrated  statue  of  Sidney 
Herbert,  one  of  the  most  impressive  in 


214 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


London — the  head  drooped  sadly  and  reflectively,  indicating  that  it  is  the  image 
of  a  conscientious  war-minister,  who,  overweighted  with  the  responsibility  of 

his  office,  was  cut  off  prematurely.  Although  not  one 
of  the  greatest  men  of  England,  Herbert's  fame  will 
be  better  preserved  by  his  finer  statue  than  that  of 
many  men  who  have  filled  a  much  larger  space  in  her 
history.  Maryborough  House  has  an  entrance  on  Pall 
Mall,  and  adjoining  its  gate  is  the  curious  and  elab- 
orately decorated  building  of  the  Beaconsfield  Club. 
Over  the  doorway  the  semicircular  cornice  does  duty 
for  a  balcony  for  the  drawing-room  windows  above. 
The  doorway  itself  is  an  imposing  archway  strangely 
cut  into  segments,  one  forming  a  window  and  the 
other  the  door. 

London  contains  in  the  West  End  many  squares 
surrounded  by  handsome  residences,  among  them 
probably  the  best  known  being  Belgrave,  Russell, 
Bedford,  Grosvenor,  Hanover,  and  Cavendish  Squares. 
Eaton  Square  is  said  to  be  the  largest  of  these,  Gros- 
venor Square  the  most  fashionable,  and  Cavendish 
Square  the  most  salubrious  and  best  cultivated.  The  line  of  streets  leading  by 
Oxford  Street  to  the  Marble  Arch  entrance  to  Hyde  Park  is  London's  most 
fashionable  route  of  city 


travel,  and  on  Tottenham 
Court  Road,  which  starts 
northward  from  Oxford 
Street,  is  the  "  Bell  Inn  "  at 
Edmonton.  It  is  not  a  very 
attractive  house,  but  is  inter- 
esting because  it  was  here 
that  Johnny  Gilpin  and  his 
worthy  spouse  should  have 
dined  when  that  day  of  sad 
disasters  came  which  Cow- 
per  has  chronicled  in  John 
Gilpin's  famous  ride.  The 
old  house  has  been  much 
changed  since  then,  and  is 
shorn  of  its  balcony,  but  it  has  capacious  gardens,  and  is  the  resort  to  this  day 


DOORWAY  BEACONSFIELD  CLUB. 


.sv  ).i//;  SCE. YES  /.Y  LO. \no.\~. 


215 


of  London  holiday-makers.  It  is  commonly  known  as  "  Gilpin's  Bell,"  and  a 
painting  of  the  ride  is  proudly  placed  outside  the  inn.  Tottenham  Court  Road 
goes  through  Camden  Town,  and  here  at  Huston  Square  is  the  London  termi- 
nus of  the  greatest  railway  in  England — the  London  and  North-western  Com- 
pany. Large  hotels  adjoin  the  station,  and  the  Underground  Railway  comes 
into  it  alongside  the  platform,  thus  giving  easy  access  to  all  parts  of  the  me- 
tropolis. This  railway  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  metropolis,  and  it  has  cost 
about  $3,250,000  per  mile  to  construct.  The  original  idea  seems  to  have  been 


THE    " BELL        AT    EDMONTON. 


to  connect  the  various  stations  of  the  railways  leading  out  of  town,  and  to  do 
this,  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  means  of  rapid  transit  from  the  heart  of  the 
city  to  the  suburbs,  the  railway  has  been  constructed  in  the  form  of  an  irreg- 
ular ellipse,  running  all  around  the  city,  yet  kept  far  within  the  built-up  portions. 
It  is  a  double  track,  with  trains  running  all  around  both  ways,  so  that  the  pas- 
senger goes  wherever  he  wishes  simply  by  following  the  circuit,  while  branch 
lines  extend  to  the  West  End  beyond  Paddington  and  Kensington.  It  is  con- 
structed not  in  a  continuous  tunnel,  for  there  are  frequent  open  spaces,  but  on 
a  general  level  lower  than  that  of  the  greater  part  of  London,  and  the  routes 
are  pursued  without  regard  to  the  street-lines  on  the  surface  above,  often  pass- 
ing diagonally  under  blocks  of  houses.  The  construction  has  taxed  engineer- 
ing skill  to  the  utmost,  for  huge  buildings  have  had  to  be  shored  up,  sewers 


2l6 


E. \GLA.\1),  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCR/PTirE. 


diverted,  and,  at  the  stations,  vast  spaces  burrowed  underground  to  get  enough 
room.  In  this  way  London  has  solved  its  rapid-transit  problem,  though  it  could 
be  done  only  at  enormous  cost.  The  metropolis,  it  will  be  seen,  has  no  end  of 


THI-:    "OLD    TABARD    INN. 


attractions,  and  for  the  traveller's  accommodation  the  ancient  inns  are  rapidly 
giving  place  to  modern  hotels.  Among  London's  famous  hostelries  is  the  "  Old 
Tabard  Inn  "  in  the  Borough,  which  will  probably  soon  be  swept  away. 


HOLLAND     HOUSE. 

To  describe  London,  as  we  said  before,  would  fill  a  volume,  but  space  for- 
bids lingering  longer,  and  we  will  pass  out  of  the  metropolis,  after  devoting 
brief  attention  to  one  of  its  historical  mansions,  the  well-known  Holland  House. 
This  fine  old  building  of  the  time  of  James  I.  stands  upon  high  ground  in  the 
western  suburbs  of  London,  and  its  history  is  interwoven  with  several  gene- 
rations of  arts,  politics,  and  literature.  The  house  is  of  red  brick,  embel- 
lished with  turrets,  gable-ends,  and  mullioned  windows.  As  its  park  has 


HOLLAND   HOI'S K. 


2I7 


already  been  partly  cut  up  for  building-lots,  the  end  of  the  celebrated  mansion 
itself  is  believed  to  be  not  far  off.  Built  in  1607,  it  descended  to  the  first  Earl 
of  Holland,  whence  its  name.  Surviving  the  Civil  Wars,  when  Fairfax  used  it 
for  his  head-quarters,  it  is  noted  that  plays  were  privately  performed  here  in 
Cromwell's  time.  In  1716,  Addison  married  the  dowager  Countess  of  Holland 
and  Warwick,  and  the  estate  passed  to  him,  and  he  died  at  Holland  House  in 
1719,  having  addressed  to  his  stepson,  the  dissolute  Ear!  of  Warwick,  the 
solemn  words,  "  I  have  sent  for  you  that  you  may  see  how  a  Christian  can 


HOLLAND    HOUSE,    SOl'TH    SIDE 


die."  Two  years  later  the  young  earl  himself  died.  In  1762  the  estate  was 
sold  to  Henry  Vassall  Fox,  Baron  Holland,  the  famous  Whig,  who  died  there 
in  1774.  It  is  related  that  during  his  last  illness  George  Selwyn  called  and 
left  his  card.  Selwyn  had  a  fondness  for  seeing  dead  bodies,  and  the  dying 
lord  remarked,  "  If  Mr.  Selwyn  calls  again,  show  him  up :  if  I  am  alive  I  shall 
be  delighted  to  see  him,  and  if  I  am  dead  he  would  like  to  see  me."  He  com- 
posed his  own  epitaph:  "Here  lies  Henry  Yassall  Fox,  Lord  Holland,  etc., 
who  was  drowned  while  sitting  in  his  elbow-chair."  He  died  in  his  elbow-chair, 
of  water  in  the  chest.  Charles  James  Fox  was  his  second  son,  and  passed  his 
early  years  at  Holland  House.  Near  the  mansion,  on  the  Kensington  Road, 


218 


/•:.Y< ;/.,/. VA  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


DINING  ROOM,    HOLLAND    HOUSE. 


manuscripts  and  autographs, 
clocks,  vases,  cab- 
inets, and  carvings, 
and  also  a  celebrated 
collection  of  minia- 
tures. For  over  two 
centuries  it  was  the 
favorite  resort  of  wits 
and  beauties,  painters 
and  poets,  scholars, 
philosophers,  and 
statesmen.  Lord 
Brougham  says  that 
in  the  time  of  Vassall, 
Lord  Holland,  it  was 
the  meeting-place  of 
the  Whig  party,  his 
liberal  hospitality 
being  a  great  attract- 


was  the  Adam  and  Eve 
Inn,  where  it  is  said  that 
Sheridan,  on  his  way  to 
and  from  Holland  House, 
regularly  stopped  for  a 
dram,  and  thus  ran  up  a 
long  bill,  which  Lord  Hol- 
land ultimately  paid. 

The  house,  built  like 
half  the  letter  H,  is  of  red 
brick  with  stone  finishings, 
and  in  the  Elizabethan 
style,  with  Dutch  gardens 
of  a  later  date.  Much  of 
the  old-time  decorations 
and  furniture  remains.  The 
library,  a  long  gallery, 
forms  the  eastern  wing, 
and  contains  a  valuable 
collection,  including  many 
There  are  fine  pictures  and  sculptures,  with  old 


THE    DUTCH     (iAKDKN,     11(11. LAM) 


HOLLAND   HOUSE. 


2  19 


ive  force,  and  Macaulay 

writes  that  it  can  boast 
a  greater  number  of  in- 
mates distinguished  in 
political  and  literary  his- 
tory than  any  other  pri- 
vate dwelling  in  Eng- 
land. After  Vassall's 
death  his  nephew  main- 
tained the  reputation  of 
Holland  House,  dying  in 
1840,  when  the  estates 
descended  to  his  only 
son,  the  late  Lord  Hol- 
land, who  also  kept  up 
the  character  of  the  man- 
sion. But  now,  however, 
the  glory  of  the  famous 
old  house  is  slowly  de- 
parting, and  has  chiefly 
become  a  fragrant  mem- 
ory. 

Eastward   from  Lon- 
don  is   the    great  park 


LIBRARY,    HOLLAND    HOUSE. 


ROGERS'  SEAT  IN  THE  DUTCH  (,AKI>I:N, 


HOLLAND    HOUSE. 


which  the  queen  in  May  opened 
with  much  pomp  as  a  breathing- 
ground  for  the  masses  of  that 
densely-populated  region,  the 
east  end  of  the  metropolis — 
Epping  Forest.  This  beautiful 
enclosure  originally  consisted 
of  nine  thousand  acres,  but  en- 
croachments reduced  it  to  about 
one-third  that  size.  Reclama- 
tions were  made,  however,  and 
the  park  now  opened  covers  five 
thousand  six  hundred  acres — a 
magnificent  pleasure-ground. 


220  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


G  R  E  E  N  W I  C  H  . 

The  river  Thames,  steadily  gathering  force  after  sweeping  through  London 
past  the  clocks,  and  receiving  upon  its  capacious  bosom  the  vast  commerce  of 
all  the  world,  encircles  the  Isle  of  Dogs  (where  Henry  VIII.  kept  his  hounds) 
below  the  city,  and  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  reach  we  come  to  Green- 
wich. Here  go  many  holiday-parties  to  the  famous  inns,  where  they  get  the 
Greenwich  fish-dinners  and  can  look  back  at  the  great  city  they  have  left. 
Here  the  ministry  at  the  close  of  the  session  has  its  annual  whitebait  din- 
ner. Greenwich  was  the  Roman  Grenovicum  and  the  Saxon  Green  Town. 
Here  encamped  the  Danes  when  they  overran  England  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  their  fleet  was  anchored  in  the  Thames.  It  became  a  royal  residence 
in  Edward  I.'s  time,  and  Henry  IV.  dated  his  will  at  the  manor  of  Greenwich. 
In  1437,  Greenwich  Castle  was  built  within  a  park,  and  its  tower  is  now  used 
for  the  Observatory.  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  then  held  Greenwich, 
and  was  the  regent  of  England  during  Henry  VI.'s  minority.  He  was  assassi- 
nated by  rivals  in  1447,  and  the  manor  reverted  to  the  Crown.  The  palace  was 
enlarged  and  embellished,  and  Henry  VIII.  was  born  there  in  1491.  He  greatly 
improved  the  palace,  and  made  it  his  favorite  residence,  Queen  Elizabeth  being 
born  there  in  1533.  King  Edward  VI.  died  at  Greenwich  in  1553,  and  Eliza- 
beth, enlarging  the  palace,  kept  a  regular  court  there.  It  was  her  favorite 
summer  home,  and  the  chronicler  of  the  time,  writing  of  a  visit  to  the  place, 
says,  in  describing  the  ceremonial  of  Elizabeth's  court,  that  the  presence- 
chamber  was  hung  with  rich  tapestry,  and  the  floor,  after  the  then  fashion,  was 
covered  with  rushes.  At  the  door  stood  a  gentleman  in  velvet  with  a  gold 
chain,  who  introduced  persons  of  distinction  who  came  to  wait  upon  the  queen. 
A  large  number  of  high  officials  waited  for  the  queen  to  appear  on  her  way 
to  chapel.  Ultimately  she  came  out,  attended  by  a  gorgeous  escort.  She  is 
described  as  sixty-five  years  old,  very  majestic,  with  an  oblong  face,  fair  but 
wrinkled,  small  black,  pleasant  eyes,  nose  a  little  hooked,  narrow  lips,  and  black 
teeth  (caused  by  eating  too  much  sugar).  She  wore  false  red  hair,  and  had  a 
small  crown  on  her  head  and  rich  pearl  drops  in  her  ears,  with  a  necklace  of 
fine  jewels  falling  upon  her  uncovered  bosom.  Her  air  was  stately,  and  her 
manner  of  speech  mild  and  obliging.  She  wore  a  white  silk  dress  bordered 
with  large  pearls,  and  over  it  was  a  black  silk  mantle  embroidered  with  silver 
thread.  Her  long  train  was  borne  by  a  marchioness.  She  spoke  graciously 
to  those  whom  she  passed,  occasionally  giving  her  right  hand  to  a  favored  one 
to  kiss.  Whenever  she  turned  her  face  in  going  along  everybody  fell  on  their 
knees.  The  ladies  of  the  court  following  her  were  mostly  dressed  in  white. 


GREENWICH. 


221 


Reaching  the  ante-chapel,  petitions  were  presented  her,  she  receiving  them 
graciously,  which  caused  cries  of  "  Long  live  Queen  Elizabeth!"  She  answered, 
"  I  thank  you,  my  good  people,"  and  then  went  into  the  service. 

King  James  I.  put  a  new  front  in  the  palace,  and  his  queen  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  "  House  of  Delight,"  which  is  now  the  central  building  of  the  Naval 
Asylum.  King  Charles  I.  resided  much  at  Greenwich,  and  finished  the  "  House 
of  Delight,"  which  was  the  most  magnificently  furnished  mansion  then  in  Eng- 
land. King  Charles  II.,  finding  the  palace  decayed,  for  it  had  fallen  into  neglect 


CRF.KXWICH    HOSPITAL,    FROM    THE    RIVER. 


during  the  Civil  Wars,  had  it  taken  down,  and  began  the  erection  of  a  new 
palace,  built  of  freestone.  In  the  time  of  William  and  Mary  it  became  the 
Royal  Xaval  Asylum,  the  magnificent  group  of  buildings  now  there  being 
extensions  of  Charles  II. 's  palace,  while  behind  rises  the  Observatory,  and 
beyond  is  the  foliage  of  the  park.  The  asylum  was  opened  in  i  705,  and  con- 
sists of  quadrangular  buildings  enclosing  a  square.  In  the  south-western 
building  is  the  Painted  Hall,  adorned  with  portraits  of  British  naval  heroes 
and  pictures  of  naval  victories.  The  asylum  supports  about  nvo  thousand 
seven  hundred  in-pensioners  and  six  thousand  out-pensioners,  while  it  has  a 
school  with  eight  hundred  scholars.  By  a  recent  change  the  in-pensioners  are 
permitted  to  reside  where  they  please,  and  it  has  lately  been  converted  into  a 
medical  hospital  for  wounded  seamen.  Its  income  is  about  £750,000  yearly. 
The  Greenwich  Observatory,  besides  being  the  centre  whence  longitude  is 


222  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


reckoned,  is  also  charged  with  the  regulation  of  time  throughout  the   king- 
dom. 

The  Thames,  which  at  London  Bridge  is  eight  hundred  feet  wide,  becomes 
one  thousand  feet  wide  at  Greenwich,  and  then  it  pursues  its  crooked  course 
between  uninteresting  shores  past  Woolwich  dockyard,  where  it  is  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  wide,  and  on  to  Gravesend,  where  the  width  is  half  a  mile  ;  then  it 


LONDON,  FROM  GREENWICH  PARK. 

broadens  into  an  estuary  which  is  eighteen  miles  wide  at  the  mouth.  Almost 
the  only  thing  that  relieves  the  dull  prospect  along  the  lower  Thames  is  Shoot- 
er's Hill,  behind  Woolwich,  which  rises  four  hundred  and  twelve  feet.  Grave- 
send,  twenty-six  miles  below  London  Bridge  by  the  river,  is  the  outer  boundary 
of  the  port  of  London,  and  is  the  head-quarters  of  the  Royal  Thames  Yacht 
Club.  Its  long  piers  are  the  first  landing-place  of  foreign  vessels.  Gravesend 
is  the  head-quarters  for  shrimps,  its  fishermen  taking  them  in  vast  numbers 
and  London  consuming  a  prodigious  quantity.  This  fishing  and  custom-house 
town,  for  it  is  a  combination  of  both,  has  its  streets  filled  with  "  tea-  and  shrimp- 
houses." 

T1I.HURY    FORT. 

On  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Thames  is  Tilbury  Fort,  the  noted  fortress  that 
commands  the  navigation  of  the  river  and  protects  the  entrance  to  London. 
It  dates  from  Charles  II. 's  time,  fright  from  De  Ruyter's  Dutch  incursion  up 
the  Thames  in  1667  having  led  the  government  to  convert  Henry  VIII. 's 
blockhouse  that  stood  there  into  a  strong  fortification.  It  was  to  Tilbury  that 
Queen  Elizabeth  went  when  she  defied  the  Spanish  Armada.  Leicester  put  a 
bridge  of  boats  across  the  river  to  obstruct  the  passage,  and  gathered  an  army 
of  eighteen  thousand  men  on  shore.  Here  the  queen  made  her  bold  speech 
of  defiance,  in  which  she  said  she  knew  she  had  the  body  of  but  a  weak  and 


THE    THAMES  MOUTH.  223 


feeble  woman,  but  she  also  had  the  heart  and  stomach  of  a  king,  and  rather 
than  her  realm  should  be  invaded  and  dishonor  grow  by  her,  she  herself  would 
take  up  arms.  She  had  then,  all  told,  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  soldiers 
and  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  war-vessels,  but  the  elements  conquered  the 
"  Invincible  Armada,"  barely  one-third  of  it  getting  back  to  Spain. 

Thus  we  have  traced  England's  famous  river  from  its  source  in  the  Cots- 
wolds  until  it  falls  into  the  North  Sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  broad  estuary 
beyond  Sheerness  and  the  More.  Knowing  the  tale  of  grandeur  that  its  banks 
unfold,  Wordsworth's  feelings  can  be  understood  as  he  halted  upon  Westmin- 
ster Bridge  in  the  early  morning  and  looked  down  the  Thames  upon  London  : 
its  mighty  heart  was  still  and  its  houses  seemed  asleep  as  the  tranquil  scene 
inspired  the  great  poet  to  write  his  sonnet: 

"  Kiirth  has  not   anything  to  show  more  fair; 

Dull  would  he  be  of  soul  who  could  pass  by 

A  sight  so  touching  in  its  majesty  : 
This  city  now  doth  like  a  garment  wear 
The  beauty  of  the  morning;  silent,  bare, 

Ships,  towers,  domes,  theatres,  and  temples  lie 

Open  unto  the  fields  and  to  the  sky  ; 
All  bright  and  glittering  in  the  smokeless  air. 
Never  did  sun  more  beautifully  steep 

In  his  first  splendor  valley,  rock,  or  hill ; 
Ne'er  saw  I,  never  felt,  a  calm  so  deep! 

The  river  glideth  at  his  own  sweet  will ; 
Dear  God !   the  very  houses  seem  asleep, 

And  all  that  mighty  heart  is  lying  still." 


V.- 
LONDON, NORTHWARD  TO  THE  TWEED. 

Harrow— St.  Albans-Verulam-Hatfield  House-Lord  Burleigh—Cassiobury-Knebworth— Great  Bed  of 
Ware— The  river  Cam— Audley  End— Saffron  Walden— Newport— Nell  Gwynn— Littlebury— Win- 
stanley— Harwich— Cambridge— Trinity  and  St.  John's  Colleges— Caius  College— Trinity  Hall-The 
Senate  House— University  Library— Clare  College— Great  St.  Mary's  Church-King's  College— Corpus 
Christi  College— St.  Catharine's  College— Queen's  College -The  Pitt  Press— Pembroke  College-Peter- 
house— Fitzwilliam  Museum— Hobson's  Conduit— Downing  College— Emmanuel  College— Christ's 
College— Sidney-Sussex  College -The  Round  Church— Magdalene  College— Jesus  College— Trump- 
ington-The  Fenland— Bury  St.  Edmunds— Hengrave  Hall-Ely— Peterborough— Crowland  Abbey— 
Guthlac-Norwich  Castle  and  Cathedral— Stamford—  Burghley  House— George  Inn-Grantham— Lin- 
coln—Nottingham— Southwell— Sherwood  Forest— Robin  Hood— The  Dukeries— Thoresby  Hall— Clum- 
ber Park— Welbeck  Abbey— Newstead  Abbey— Newark-Hull-William  Wilberforce— Beverley— 
Sheffield— Wakeficld— Leeds-Bolton  Abbey-The  Strid— Ripon  Cathedral -Fountains  Abbey— Stud- 
ley  Royal-Fountains  Hall-York-Eboracum— York  Minster-Clifford's  Tower-Castle  Howard- 
Kirkham  Pnory-Flamborough  Head— Scarborough— Whitby  Abbey— Durham  Cathedral  and  Castle— 
St.  Cuthbert— The  Venerable  Bede— Battle  of  Neville's  Cross— Chester-le-Street— Lumley  Castle— New- 
castle-upon-Tyne—  Hexham— Alnwick  Castle— Hotspur  and  the  Percies-St.  Michael's  Church— Hulne 
Priory-Ford  Castle-Flodden  Kield-The  Tweed-Berwick-Holy  Isle-Lindisfarne-Bamborough- 
Grace  Darling. 

ST.    ALBANS. 

THE  railway  running  from  London  to  Edinburgh,  and  on  which  the  cele- 
brated fast  train  the  "  Flying  Scotchman  "  travels  between  the  two  cap- 
itals, is  the  longest  in  Britain.  Its  route  northward  from  the  metropolis  to  the 
Scottish  border,  with  occasional  digressions,  will  furnish  many  places  of  inter- 
est. On  the  outskirts  of  London,  in  the  north-western  suburbs,  is  the  well- 
known  school  founded  three  hundred  years  ago  by  John  Lyon  at  Harrow, 
standing  on  a  hill  two  hundred  feet  high.  One  of  the  most  interesting  towns 
north  of  London,  for  its  historical  associations  and  antiquarian  remains,  is  St. 
Albans  in  Hertfordshire.  Here,  on  the  opposite  slopes  of  a  shelving  valley, 
are  seen  on  the  one  hand  the  town  that  has  clustered  around  the  ancient  abbey 
of  St.  Albans,  and  on  the  other  the  ruins  of  the  fortification  of  Verulam,  both 
relics  of  Roman  power  and  magnificence.  On  this  spot  stood  the  chief  town 
of  the  Cassii,  whose  king,  Cassivelaunus,  vainly  opposed  the  inroads  of  Caesar. 
Here  the  victorious  Roman,  after  crossing  the  Thames,  besieged  and  finally  over- 
threw the  Britons.  The  traces  of  the  ancient  earthworks  are  still  plainly  seen 


224 


ALBAXS. 


225 


on  the  banks  of  the  little  river  Ver,  and  when  the  Romans  got  possession  there 
arose  the  flourishing  town  of  Yerulam,  which  existed  until  the  British  war- 
rior-queen, Boadicea,  stung  by  the  oppressions  of  her  race,  stormed  and  cap- 
tured the  place  and  ruthlessly  massacred  its  people.  But  her  triumph  was 
short  lived,  for  the  Romans,  gaining  reinforcements,  recaptured  the  city.  This 
was  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  Christian  era,  and  at  a  time  when  Christian  per- 
secutions raged.  There  then  lived  in  Yerulam  a  prominent  man  named  Alban, 


ST.    ALHANS,    FROM    VKRULAM. 

a  young  Roman  of  good  family.     In 
the  year  303  a  persecuted  priest  named 
Amphibalus    threw    himself    upon    the 
mercy  of  Alban,  and  sought  refuge  in  his 

house.  The  protection  was  granted,  and  in  a  few  days  the  exhortations  of 
Amphibalus  had  converted  his  protector  to  Christianity.  The  officials,  getting 
word  of  Amphibalus'  whereabouts,  sent  a  guard  to  arrest  him,  whereupon  Alban 
dismissed  his  guest  secretly,  and,  wrapping  himself  in  the  priest's  robe  and  hood, 
awaited  the  soldiers.  They  seized  him,  and  took  him  before  the  magistrates, 
when  the  trick  was  discovered.  He  was  given  the  alternative  of  dying  or 
sacrificing  to  the  gods  of  Rome,  but,  preferring  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  after 
cruel  torments  he  was  led  to  his  doom.  He  was  to  be  taken  across  the  Ver  to 
be  beheaded,  but  miracles  appeared.  The  stream,  which  had  been  a-flood, 
quickly  dried  up.  so  that  the  multitude  could  pass,  and  this  so  touched  the 


226 


}•:. \GLAXD.  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


OLD  WALL  AT  VERULAM. 


executioner  that  he  refused  to  strike  the  blow  and  declared  himself  also  a 
convert.  The  executioner's  head  was  quickly  stricken  off,  and  another  heads- 
man obtained.  Alban  meanwhile  was  athirst,  and 
at  his  prayer  a  spring  broke  from  the  ground  for 
his  refreshment.  The  new  executioner  struck  off 
Alban's  head,  but  in  doing  so  his  eyes  dropped 
from  their  sockets.  On  the  spot  where  Alban 
died  the  abbey  was  afterwards  built.  His  martyr- 
dom did  not  save  Amphibalus,  who  was  soon  cap- 
tured and  put  to  death  at  Redburn,  a  few  miles 
away,  where  his  relics  were  afterwards  discovered  and 
enshrined,  like  those  of  his  pupil,  in  the  abbey. 

The  sacrifice  of  the  protomartyr  brought  its  fruits. 
Verulam  became  Christian,  and  within  a  century  was  pay- 
ing him  the  honors  of  a  saint.  In  the  eighth  century  King 
Offa  of  Mercia,  having  treacherously  murdered  King  Ethel- 
bert,  became  conscience-stricken,  and  to  propitiate  Heaven 
founded  the  abbey.  He  built  a  Benedictine  monastery, 
which  was  richly  endowed,  and  gradually  attracted  the 
town  away  from  Verulam  and  over  to  its  present  site.  This  monastery  existed 
until  the  Norman  Conquest,  when  it  was  rebuilt,  the  ruins  of  Verulam  serving 
as  a  quarry.  Thus  began  the  great  abbey  of  St. 
Albans,  which  still  overlooks  the  Ver,  although  it 
has  been  materially  altered  since.  It  prospered 
greatly,  and  the  close  neighborhood  to  London 
brought  many  pilgrims  as  well  as  royal  visits.  The 
abbots  were  invested  with  great  powers  and  be- 
came dictatorial  and  proud,  having  frequent  con- 
tests with  the  townsfolk  ;  and  it  is  recorded  that 
one  young  man  who  applied  for  admission  to  the 
order,  being  refused  on  account  of  his  ignorance, 
went  abroad  and  ultimately  became  Pope  Adrian  IV. 
But  he  bore  the  abbsy  no  ill-will,  afterwards  grant- 
ing it  many  favors.  Cardinal  Wolsey  was  once  the 
abbot,  but  did  not  actively  govern  it.  In  1539  its 
downfall  came,  and  it  surrendered  to  King  Henry 
VIII.  The  deed  of  surrender,  signed  by  thirty- 
nine  monks,  is  still  preserved,  and  the  seal  is  in 
the  British  Museum.  The  abbey  is  now  in  ruins;  the  church  and  gateway 


MONASTERY    GATE. 


ST.   ALBANS. 


227 


remain,  but  the  great  group  of  buildings 
that  composed  it  has  mostly  disappear- 
ed, so  that  the  old  monastery  is  almost 
as  completely  effaced  as  Verulam.  But 
the  church,  by  being  bought  for  $2000 
for  the  St.  Albans  parish  church,  is  still 
preserved,  and  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
'esting  ecclesiastical  structures  in  Eng- 
land ;  vet  its  great  length  and  massive 

J  o  <r*> 

central  tower  are  rather  unfavorable  to 
its  picturesqueness,  though  the  tower 
when  seen  from  a  distance  impresses 
by  its  grandeur  and  simplicity.  In  this 
tower,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
church,  can  be  detected  the  ancient 
bricks  from  V'erulam.  The  ground-plan 
of  St.  Albans  Church  is  a  Latin  cross, 

and  it  is  five 
hundred 
and  forty- 
eight  feet 
long.  The 
western 
part  was 


THE    TOWER    OF    THE   ABBEY. 


erected  in  the  twelfth,  and  the  greater  portion 
of  the  nave  and  choir  in  the  thirteenth,  cen- 
tury. The  floor  of  the  choir  is  almost  paved 
with  sepulchral  slabs,  though  of  the  two  hun- 
dred monuments  the  church  once  contained  bare- 
ly a  dozen  remain.  At  the  back  of  the  high  altar 
was  the  great  treasury  of  the  abbey,  the  shrine 
enclosing  St.  Alban's  relics,  but  this  was  de- 
stroyed at  the  Reformation :  some  fragments 
have  been  since  discovered,  and  the  shrine  thus 
reproduced  with  tolerable  completeness.  On  the 
side  of  the  chapel  is  a  wooden  gallery,  with  cup- 
boards beneath  and  a  staircase  leading  up  to 
it.  In  the  shrine  and  cupboards  were  the  abbey 


STAIRCASE  TO  wATCHiNG-GALLERY.     treasures,    and    in    the    gallery    the    monks    kept 


228 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A.\n    DESCRIPTITE. 


watch  at  night  lest  they  should  be  despoiled.  This  vigilance,  we  are  told, 
was  necessary,  for  rival  abbeys  were  by  no  means  scrupulous  about  the 
means  by  which  they  augmented  their  stores  of  relics.  This  quaint  gallery, 
still  preserved,  is  rive  hundred  years  old.  Near  the  shrine  is  the  tomb 
of  Duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  King  Henry  V.  and  regent 
during  the  minority  of  Henry 
VI.,  who  was  assassinated 
at  Windsor.  The  tomb  was 
opened  in  1703,  and  the 
skeleton  found  buried  among 
spices  and  enclosed  in  two 
coffins,  the  outer  of  lead. 
The  vault  remained  open- 
ed, and  visitors  purloined 
good  Humphrey's  bones  till 
nearly  all  had  disappeared, 
when  the  authorities  con- 
cluded it  was  better  to  close 
up  the  vault  and  save  what 
remained.  The  massive  gate- 
house, which  still  exists,  was 
built  in  Richard  II. 's  reign, 
and  was  used  for  a  jail  until 
not  long  ago  they  determined 
to  put  a  school  there.  In  front 
of  it  the  martyr  Tankerfield  was  burnt, 
and  buried  in  1555  in  a  little  triangular 
graveyard  which  still  exists.  Fox,  in  his 
Book  of  Martyrs,  relates  that  he  endured 
the  pain  with  great  constancy,  and  testi- 
fied to  the  last  against  the  errors  of  his 
persecutors. 

In  the  town  of  St.  Albans,  near  the 
abbey  and  at  the  junction  of  two  streets,  stands  the  ancient  clock-tower,  built 
in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  mainly  of  flint.  It  occupies  the 
site  of  an  earlier  one  said  to  have  been  erected  by  two  ladies  of  Verulam,  who, 
wandering  alone  in  the  woods  and  becoming  lost,  saw  a  light  in  a  house,  sought 
refuge  there,  and  erected  the  tower  on  the  site  as  a  memorial  of  their  deliv- 
erance. The  bell  in  this  tower  was  in  former  days  used  to  ring  the  curfew. 


THE   SHRINK    AND    WATCH  ING-GALLERY. 


.ST.    A  LEANS. 


229 


The  town  itself  has  little  to  show. 
In  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  among 
the  monumental  brasses,  is  the  one 
to  a  priest  often  quoted,  that  reads: 

"  Lo,  all  that  here  I  spent,  that  some  time  had  1  ; 
All  that  I  gave  in  good  intent,  that  now  have  I  ; 
That  I  neither  gave  nor  lent,  that  now  able  *  I ; 
That  I  kept  till  I  went,  that  lo-t  I." 

Edward  Strong,  the  mason  who 
built  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  Lon- 
don under  the  direction  of  Wren, 
is  also  buried  in  this  church.  Its 
chief  tenants,  however,  are  the  slain 
at  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans 
in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  At  the 
first  of  these  battles,  fought  in  1455 
on  the  east  side  of  the  town,  Henry 
of  Lancaster  was  wounded  and  cap- 
tured by  the  Duke  of  York.  The 
second  battle,  a  much  more  im- 
portant contest,  was  fought  on 


1 


• 


CLOCK-TOWER,    ST.    ALBANS. 


! 


BARNARD'S  HEATH. 
Shrove  Tuesday,  February  17,  1461,  at  Barnard's   Heath,  north  of  the  town, 

*  This  word  means  expiate. 


230 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


and  near  St.  Peter's  Church.  Queen  Margaret  of  Lancaster  led  her  forces  in 
person,  and  was  victorious  over  the  Yorkists  under  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  lib- 
erating the  captive  king,  who  was  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  and  following  the  battle  by 
a  ruthless  execution  of  prisoners.  King 
Henry,  who  had  gone  to  St.  Alban's  shrine 
in  tribulation  when  captured  in  the  earlier 
contest,  also  went  there  again  in  thanks- 
giving when  thus  liberated  six  years  later. 
The  town  of  St.  Albans,  by  the  growth  of 
time,  has  stretched  across  the  Ver,  and  one 
straggling  suburb  reaches  into  the  north- 
western angle  of  the  ruins  of  ancient  Veru- 
lam,  where  it  clusters  around  the  little  church 
of  St.  Michael  within  the  Roman  city.  This 
is  a  plain  church,  built  in  patches,  parts  of 
it  nearly  a  thousand  years  old,  and  is  the 
burial-place  of  Francis  Bacon,  who  was 
Baron  of  Verulam  and  Viscount  St.  Albans. 
Within  a  niche  on  the  side  of  the  chancel 
is  his  familiar  effigy  in  marble,  where  he  sits 
in  an  arm-chair  and  contemplatively  gazes  upward.  From  these  ruins  of 
Verulam  is  obtained  the  best  view  of  St.  Alban's  Abbey,  with  the  town  in  the 
background,  overlooked  by  its  clock-tower. 

HATFIELD    HOUSE. 

A  short  distance  east  of  St.  Albans  is  Hatfield,  and  in  a  fine  park  in  the 
suburbs  stands  the  magnificent  mansion  of  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury — Hatfield 
House.  The  place  is  ancient,  though  the  house  is  completely  modern.  The 
manor  was  given  by  King  Edgar  to  the  monastery  at  Ely,  and,  as  in  course 
of  time  the  abbot  became  a  bishop,  the  manor  afterwards  became  known  as 
Bishops  Hatfield,  a  name  that  it  still  bears.  The  oldest  portion  of  the  present 
buildings  was  erected  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  and  in  the  time  of  his  suc- 
cessor it  passed  into  possession  of  the  Crown.  Here  lived  young  Edward  VI., 
and  he  was  escorted  by  the  Earl  of  Hertford  and  a  cavalcade  of  noblemen  from 
Hatfield  to  London  for  his  coronation.  The  youthful  king  granted  Hatfield  to 
his  sister  Elizabeth,  and  here  she  was  kept  in  Queen  Mary's  reign  after  her 
release  from  the  Tower.  She  was  under  the  guardianship  of  Sir  Thomas  Pope 
when,  in  November,  1558,  Queen  Mary  died,  and  Sir  W'illiam  Cecil  sent  mes- 


MICHAELS,   VERULAM. 


HATFIELD   HOUSE. 


231 


...Jk. 


sengers  from  London  to  apprise  Elizabeth  that  the  crown  awaited  her.  We 
are  told  that  when  they  arrived  the  princess  was  found  in  the  park,  sitting 
under  a  spreading  oak — a  noble  tree  then,  but  time  has  since  made  sad  havoc 
with  it,  though  the  remains  are  carefully  pre- 
served as  one  of  the  most  precious  memorials  at 
Hatfield.  The  family  of  Cecil,  thus  introduced 
to  Hatfield,  was  destined  to  continue  associated 
with  its  fortunes.  Sir  William  came  to  the  manor 
on  the  next  day,  and  then  peers  and  courtiers  of 
all  ilks  flocked  thither  to  worship  the  rising  sun. 
On  the  following  day  the  queen  gave  her  first 
reception  in  the  hall  and  received  the  fealty  of 
the  leading  men  of  every  party  ;  but  she  did  not 
forget  Cecil,  for  her  earliest  act  was  to  appoint  him 
her  chief  secretary,  lord  treasurer,  and  adviser— 
a  tie  that  continued  for  forty  years  and  was  only 
sundered  by  death.  Cecil  was  afterwards  made 
Lord  Burghley,  and  the  confidence  thus  first  re- 
posed in  him  within  the  hall  that  was  afterwards  to  QUEEN  ELIZABETH'S  OAK,  HATFIELD. 
become  the  home  of  his  descendants  was  most  remarkable.  "  No  arts,"  writes 
Lord  Macaulay,  "  could  shake  the  confidence  which  she  reposed  in  her  old  and 
trusty  servant.  The  courtly  graces  of  Leicester,  the  brilliant  talents  and  accom- 
plishments of  Essex,  touched  the  fancy,  perhaps  the  heart,  of  the  woman,  but 
no  rival  could  deprive  the  treasurer  of  the  place  which  he  possessed  in  the 
favor  of  the  queen.  She  sometimes  chid  him  sharply,  but  he  was  the  man 
whom  she  delighted  to  honor.  For  Burghley  she  forgot  her  usual  parsimony, 
both  of  wealth  and  dignities;  for  Burghley  she  relaxed  that  severe  etiquette 
to  which  she  was  unreasonably  attached.  Every  other  person  to  whom  she 
addressed  her  speech,  or  on  whom  the  glance  of  her  eagle  eye  fell,  instantly 
sank  on  his  knee.  For  Burghley  alone  a  chair  was  set  in  her  presence,  and 
there  the  old  minister,  by  birth  only  a  plain  Lincolnshire  esquire,  took  his  ease, 
while  the  haughty  heirs  of  the  Fitzalans  and  De  Veres  humbled  themselves  to 
the  dust  around  him.  At  length,  having  survived  all  his  early  coadjutors  and 
rivals,  he  died,  full  of  years  and  honors." 

But  it  was  not  until  after  his  death  that  Hatfield  came  into  possession  of  his 
family.  He  built  Burghley  House  near  Stamford  in  Lincolnshire,  and  left  it  to 
his  younger  son,  Sir  Robert  Cecil.  After  Elizabeth's  death,  King  James  I. 
expressed  a  preference  for  Burghley  over  Hatfield,  and  an  exchange  was 
made  by  which  Hatfield  passed  into  possession  of  Sir  Robert,  who  had  sue- 


ENGLAND,  PTCTURESQUE  A.\D    DKSCK/f'T/l'/-:. 


ceeded  his  father  as  chief  minister,  and,  though  in  weak  health  and  of  small 
stature,  was  a  wise  and  faithful  servant  of  the  queen  and  of  her  successor. 
In  Elizabeth's  last  illness,  when  she  persisted  in  sitting  propped  up  on  a  stool 
by  pillows,  he  urged  her  to  rest  herself,  and  inadvertently  said  she  "must  go 
to  bed."  The  queen  fired  up.  "Must!"  cried  she.  "Is  must  a  word  to 
be  addressed  to  princes  ?  Little  man,  little  man,  thy  father  if  he  had  been 
alive  durst  not  have  used  that  word."  Sir  Robert  did  not  survive  the  queen 
many  years,  and  to  him  King  James's  peaceful  succession  to  the  throne  is  said 
to  have  been  greatly  due.  The  king  made  him  the  Earl  ot  Salisbury,  and  the 
title  descended  lor  several  generations,  until,  in  1773,  the  seventh  earl  was  pro- 


II A  IF  I  ELD    HOUSE. 


moted  to  the  rank  of  marquis,  and  now  Robert  Cecil,  the  third  Marquis  of 
Salisbury  and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Conservative  party,  presides  over  the 
estates  at  Hatfield.  The  chief  entrance  to  Hatfield  House  is  on  the  northern 
side,  and  above  it  rises  a  cupola.  The  buildings  form  three  sides  of  an  oblong, 
the  longer  line  fronting  the  north  and  the  two  wings  pointing  towards  the 
south.  They  are  of  brick,  with  stone  dressings  and  facings,  and  are  admired 
as  a  faithful  example  of  the  excellent  domestic  architecture  of  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  approach  through  the  park  from  the  town 
is  of  great  beauty,  the  grand  avenue,  bordered  by  stately  trees,  conducting 
the  visitor  to  a  court  in  front  of  the  house  enclosed  by  a  balustrade  with  hand- 
some gates.  Within  the  building  the  most  remarkable  features  are  the  gal- 
leries, extending  along  the  entire  southern  front.  The  gallery  on  the  ground 


ffATFIELD   HOUSE. 


233 


floor  was  formerly  a  corridor,  open  on  one  side  to  the  air;  but  at  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  this  has  been  enclosed  with  glass,  and  thus  converted  into 
a  gallery  paved  with  black  and  white  marble,  and  ornamented  with  arms  and 
armor,  some  being  trophies  from  the  Armada  and  others  from   the  Crimea. 
Here  is  the  rich  saddle-cloth  used  on  the  white  steed  that  Queen  Elizabeth 
rode  at  Tilbury.     There  are  a  fine  chapel  and  attractive  state-apartments,  but 
around  the  old   house  there  lingers  a  tale  of  sorrow.     The  western  wing  was 
burned  in  1835,  and  the  dowager  marchioness,  the  grandmother  of  the  present 
marquis,  then   five  years  old,  perished   in   the  flames,  which  originated  in  her 
chamber.     This  wing  has  been  finely  restored,  and  the  room  in  which  she  was 
burned    contains    her 
portrait,  an    oval   me- 
dallion let  into  the  wall 
over  the  fireplace.     It 
is  the  sweet  and  sunny 
face  of  a  young  girl, 
and  her  tragic  fate  in 
helpless   age   reminds 
of  Solon's  warning  as 
we    look    at    the    pic- 
ture :  "  Count  no  one 
happy    till     he    dies." 
In  the  gallery  at  Hat- 
field   are    portraits    of  THE  CORRIDOR,  HATFIELD. 
King  Henry  VIII.  and  all  six  of  his  wives.     In  the  library,  which  is  rich  in 
historical  documents,  is  the  pedigree  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  emblazoned  in  1559, 
and  tracing  her  ancestry  in  a  direct  line  back  to  Adam  !     The  state  bedrooms 
have  been  occupied  by   King  James,  Cromwell,  and  Queen  Victoria.     In  the 
gardens,  not  far  from  the  house,   is  the  site  of  the   old  episcopal  palace  of 
Bishops  Hatfield,  of  which  one  side  remains  standing,   with  the  quaint  gate- 
house now  used  as  an  avenue  of  approach  up  the  hill   from  the  town  to  the 
stables.     There  is  a  fine  view  of  the  town  through  the  ancient  gateway.     Here 
lived  the  princess  Elizabeth,  and   in  the  halls  where   kings  have  banqueted  the 
marquis's  horses   now  munch  their  oats.      Immediately  below,  in   the  town,   is 
Salisbury  Chapel,  in  which  repose  the  bones  of  his  ancestors. 

Also  in  Hertfordshire  are  Cassiobury,  the  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Essex,  whose 
ancestor,  Lord  Capel,  who  was  beheaded  in  1648  for  his  loyalty  to  King  Charles 
I.,  brought  the  estate  into  the  family  by  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Morison  ; 
and  Knebworth,  the  home  of  Lord  Lytton  the  novelist,  which  has  been  the 


234 


E. \GLA.\D,  PICTURESQUE  A.\D   DESCRIPTIVE. 


home  of  his  ancestors 
since  the  time  of  Henry 
VII.,  when  it  was  bought 
by  Sir  Robert  Lytton. 
The  "Great  Bed  of 
Ware "  is  one  of  the 
curiosities  of  the  county 
—a  vast  bed  twelve  feet 
square,  originally  at  the 
Saracen's  Head  Inn.  It 
was  built  for  King  Ed- 
ward IV'.,  and  was  curi- 
ously carved,  ami  has 
had  a  distinguished  place 
in  English  literary  allu- 

V1EW    THROUGH    OLD    GATEWAY,    HATF1ELU.  sionS         TllC  bed    Still    CX 

ists  at  Rye  House  in  Hertfordshire,  where  it  was  removed  a  few  years  ago. 
A  dozen  people  have  slept  in  it  at  the  same  time. 


AUDLEY     END    AND    SAFFRON    WALDEN. 

Journeying  farther  from  London,  and  into  the  county  of  Essex,  we  come  to 
the  little  river  Cam,  and  on  the  side  of  its  valley,  among  the  gentle  undulations 
of  the  Essex  uplands,  is  seen  the  palace  of  Audley  End,  and  beyond  it  the  village 
of  Saffron  Walden.  Here  in  earlier  times  was  the  abbey  of  Walden,  which, 
when  dissolved  by  Henry  VIII.,  was  granted  to  Sir  Thomas  Audley,  who  then 
stood  high  in  royal  favor.  But  almost  all  remains  of  this  abbey  have  disap- 
peared, and  Sir  Thomas,  who  was  Speaker  of  the  House,  got  the  grant  because 
of  his  industry  in  promoting  the  king's  wishes  for  the  dissolution  of  the  relig- 
ious houses,  and  was  also  made  Lord  Audley  of  Walden.  This,  as  Fuller  tells 
us,  was  "a  dainty  morsel,  an  excellent  receipt  to  clear  the  Speaker's  voice,  and 
make  him  sp^ak  clear  and  well  for  his  master."  But  he  did  not  live  lono  to 
enjoy  it,  although  giving  the  estate  his  name,  and  it  passed  ultimately  to  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  after  whose  execution  it  became  the  property  of  his  son, 
Lord  Thomas  Howard,  whom  Queen  Elizabeth  made  Baron  Walden,  and  King 
James  appointed  lord  treasurer  and  promoted  to  be  Earl  of  Suffolk.  He  built 
the  great  palace  of  Audley  End,  which  was  intended  to  eclipse  every  palace 
then  existing  in  England.  It  was  begun  in  1603,  and  was  finished  in  1616,  the 
date  still  remaining  upon  one  of  the  gateways.  King  James  twice  visited  Aud- 


AUDLEY  END  AND   SAFFRON   WALDEX. 


235 


ley  End  while  building,  and  is  said  to  have  remarked,  as  he  viewed  its  enormous 
proportions,  that  the  house  was  too  large  for  a  king,  though  it  might  do  for  a 
lord  treasurer.  It  cost  over  $1,000,000,  but  no  accurate  account  was  kept, 
and  the  earl  was  so  straitened  by  the  outlay,  that  after  being  dismissed  from 
office  he  was  compelled  to  sell  out  several  other  estates,  and  died  nearly 
$200,000  in  debt.  The  second  and  third  earls  tried  to  maintain  the  white 
elephant,  but  found  it  too  heavy  a  burden,  and  the  latter  sold  the  house  to 
King  Charles  II.  for  $250,000,  of  which  $100,000  remained  on  mortgage.  It 


AUDLEY    END,    WESTERN    FRONT. 

was  known  as  the  New  Palace,  and  became  a  royal  residence.  It  consisted  of 
a  large  outer  court  and  a  smaller  inner  one.  Around  these  the  buildings  were 
constructed  from  one  to  three  stories  high,  with  towers  at  the  corners  and  cen- 
tres of  the  fronts.  The  impression  produced  by  the  design  is  said  not  to  have 
been  very  favorable,  it  being  insufficiently  grand  for  so  vast  a  pile,  and  while 
it  was  a  pleasant  residence  in  summer,  the  want  of  facilities  for  heating  made 
it  in  winter  little  better  than  a  barn.  When  Pepys  visited  Audley  End  in  1660 
and  1668,  his  chief  impression  seems  to  have  been  of  the  cellars,  for  he  writes: 
"  Only  the  gallery  is  good,  and,  above  all  things,  the  cellars,  where  we  went 
down  and  drank  of  much  good  liquor.  And,  indeed,  the  cellars  are  fine,  and 


236  EXCLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


here  my  wife  and  I  did  sing,  to  my  great  content."     It  was  in   the  following 
year  that  the  house  was  sold  to  the  king.     In  1701.  however,  it  passed  back  to 
the  fifth  Earl  of  Suffolk,  and  about  twenty  years  later  a  large  part  of  the  struc- 
ture was  taken  down.     Three  sides  of  the  great  court,  including  the  gallery 
referred  to  by  Pepys,  were  demolished,  and  Audley  End  was  reduced  to  the 
buildings  around  the  smaller  quadrangle;   this  was  further  reduced  in  1749,  so 
that  the  house  assumed  its  present  appearance  of  three  sides  of  a  square,  open 
towards  the  east,  and  thus  remains  an  excellent  type  of  an  early  Jacobean  man- 
sion, its  best  view  being  from  the  garden  front.     Within  it  has  fine  apartments, 
and  contains  the  only  authentic  portrait  of  George  II.  that  is  known.    This  king 
would  never  sit  for  his  picture,  and  the  artist  by  stealth  sketched  his  likeness 
from  a  closet  near  the  staircase  of  Kensington  Palace,  where  he  had  an  excel- 
lent view  of  the  peculiar  monarch.      It  is,  as  Thackeray  says,  the  picture  of  a 
"red-faced,  staring  princeling,"   but  is    believed  true  to    nature   nevertheless. 
Lady  Suffolk,  it  seems,  was  one  of  his  few  favorites.     Audley  End  has  been 
for  a  long  time  in  possession  of  the  Barons  of  Braybrooke,  and  is  their  princi- 
pal  seat.     Lord    Cornwallis,  of  American   Revolutionary  remembrance,  was  a 
member  of  this   family,  and  his   portrait   is  preserved   here. 

Over  the  undulating  surface  of  the  park,  barely  a  mile  away,  can  be  seen  the 
pretty  spire  of  Saffron  Walden  Church,   with  the  village  clustering  around  it. 
Here  on  a  hill  stand  the  church  and  the  castle,  originally  of  Walden,  but  from 
the  extensive  cultivation  of  saffron  in  the  neighborhood  the  town  came  to  have 
that  prefix  given  it;  it  was  grown  there  from  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  and  the 
ancient  historian  Fuller  quaintly  tells  us  "  it  is  a  most  admirable  cordial,  and 
under  God  I  owe  my  life,  when  sick  with  the  small-pox,  to  the  efficacy  thereof." 
Fuller  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  "  the  sovereign  power  of  genuine  saffron  is  plain- 
ly proved  by  the  antipathy  of  the    crocodile  thereto  ;  for  the  crocodile's  tears 
are  never  true  save  when  he  is  forced  where  saffron  groweth,  whence  he  hath 
his  name  of  croco-deilos,  or  the  saffron-fearer,  knowing  himself  to  be  all  poison, 
and  it  all  antidote."     Saffron  attained  its  highest  price  at  Walden  in  Charles 
II.'s  time,  when  it  was  as  high  as  twenty  dollars  a  pound,  but  its  disuse  in  medi- 
cine caused  its  value  to  diminish,  and  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  its  cul- 
ture had  entirely  disappeared  from  Walden,  though  the  prefix  still  clings  to  the 
name  of  the  town.     While  saffron  was  declining,  this  neighborhood  became  a 
great  producer  of  truffles,  and  the  dogs  were  trained  here  to  hunt  the  fungus 
that  is  so  dear  to  the  epicure's  palate.     The  church  of  St.  Mary,  which  is  a 
fine  Perpendicular  structure  and  the  most  conspicuous  feature  of  Saffron  Wal- 
den, was  built  about  four  hundred  years  ago,  though  the  slender  spire  crown- 
ing its  western  tower  is  of  later  date,  having  been  built  in  the  present  century. 


AUDLEY  END  A.\7>   S.-IFFXO.V    ll'ALDEX. 


237 


In  the  church  are  buried  the  six  Earls  of  Suffolk  who  lived  at  Audley  End,  and 
all  of  whom  died  between  1709  and  1745.  The  ruins  of  the  ancient  castle,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  a  portion  of  the  keep  and  some  rough  arches,  are  not  far  from 
the  church,  and  little  is  known  of  its  origin. 
There  is  a  museum  near  the  ruins  which 
contains  some  interesting  antiquities  and 


a  fine   nat- 
ural-history 
collection. 
The     newly- 
constructed 
to  w  n  -  h  a  1 1, 
built    in    an- 
tique   style, 
overhang  i  ng 
the     footway 
and  supported 
on    arches,   is 
one  of  the  most 

interesting  buildings  in  Saffron  Walclen  :  the  mayor  and  corporation  meeting 
here  date  their  charter  from  1549.  Not  far  away,  at  Newport,  lived  Nell 
Gwynn,  in  a  modest  cottage  with  a  royal  crown  over  the  door.  She  was  one 
of  the  numerous  mistresses  of  Charles  II.,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  only 
one  who  remained  faithful  to  him.  She  bore  him  two  sons,  one  dvino-  in 


VIEWS    IN    SAFFRON    WALDEN. 

i.  Town-Hall.     2.  Church.     3.   Entrance  to  the  Town. 


238 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


childhood,  and  the  other  becoming  the  Duke  of  St.  Albans,  a  title  created  i 

Betide"         Ne7Jred  "  f  PerS°nS  °f  HiS  deSCenda-  °f  the  «> 

c       Nell  was  originally  an   orange-girl  who  developed   into  a   variety 

tress,  and  fascinating  the  king,  he  bought  her  from  Lord  Buckhurst,  her  love 
for  an  earldom  and  a  pension.    Nell  is  said  to  have  cost  the  kin,,  over  *,oo 
in    our  years.      She  had  her  good  qualities  and  was  very  popufa     in    FrX? 
and  she  persuad  ed  the  king  to  found  Chelsea  Hospital  for'disabed^r' 

ee 


who 


in  it  when  it  was  destroyed  by  a  terrific  storm 


JETTIES   AT   HARWICH. 

Digressing  down  ,o  ,he  coast  of  Essex,  on  the  North  Sea.  we  find  at  the 
fluence  of  the  Stour  and  Orwell   the  best  harbor  on    that  side  of  F  " 

narr°     an"  M-hM°^      —  °f  *«  ancient 

elylcs 


»  Rotterdan,  and  Antwerp  in 

the  harbor-entrance  ,s  protected  by  the  ancient  Lanp.ard  For,,  built  by 

on  a  project^  spit  of  land  now  joined  to  the  Suffolk  coast  to  tl,     no  Zard 

One  of  the  most  .nterestir,.  scenes  a,  Harwich  is  a  ,,ro,,p  of  old  wrecks      a 

been   u,,I,2ed  for  a  series  of  jetties  in  connection  wi,     a  shipbui  dtV     yard 

VVeather-bea.en  and  battered,  they  have  been  n,oored  in  a  placid  haven 

though  ,t  be  on   the  unpicturesoue  coast  of  Essex. 


CAMBRIDGE. 


259 


CAMBRIDGE. 

Returning  to  the  valley  of  the  Cam.  we  will  follow  it  down  to  the  great 
university  city  of  Cambridge,  fifty-eight  miles  north  of  London.  It  stands  in 
a  wide  and  open  valley,  and  is  built  on  both  banks  of  the  river,  which  is  nav- 
igable up  to  this  point,  so  that  the  town  is  literally  the  "  Bridge  over  the  Cam." 
The  situation  is  not  so  picturesque  or  so  favorable  as  that  of  the  sister  uni- 
versity city  of  Oxford,  but  it  is  nevertheless  an  attractive  city,  the  stately 


BRIDGE,    ST.    JOHN'S   COLLEGE. 

buildings  being  admirably  set  off  by  groups  and  avenues  of  magnificent  trees 
that  flourish  nowhere  to  better  advantage  than  in  English  scenery.  The  chief 
colleges  are  ranged  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Cam,  with  their  fronts  away 
from  the  water,  while  behind  each  there  is  a  sweep  of  deliciously  green  meadow 
land  known  as  the  "  Backs  of  the  Colleges,"  surrounded  by  trees,  and  with  a 
leafy  screen  of  foliage  making  the  background  beyond  the  buildings.  \Yhilc- 
the  greater  part  of  modern  Cambridge  is  thus  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river, 
the  oldest  portion  was  located  on  a  low  plateau  forming  the  opposite  shore. 
It  is  uncertain  when  the  university  was  first  established  there.  Henry  Beau- 


24°  ENGLAND,  PICTURESOL'E  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


clerc,  the  youngest  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  studied  the  arts  and  sciences 
at  Cambridge,  and  when  he  became  king  he  bestowed  many  privileges  upon 
the  town  and  fixed  a  regular  ferry  over  the  Cam.  By  the  thirteenth  century 
scholars  had  assembled  there  and  become  a  recognized  body,  accordino-  to 
writs  issued  by  Henry  III.  In  1270  the  title  of  a  university  was  formally 
bestowed,  and  the  oldest  known  collegiate  foundation — Peterhouse,  or  St. 
Peter's  College — had  been  established  a  few  years  before.  Cambridge  has 
in  all  seventeen  colleges,  and  the  present  act  of  incorporation  was  granted 
by  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  Duke  of  Devonshire  is  the  chancellor.  The  student 
graduates  either  "  in  Honors  "  or  "  in  the  Poll."  In  the  former  case  he  can 
obtain  a  distinction  in  mathematics,  classics,  the  sciences,  theology,  etc.  The 
names  of  the  successful  students  are  arranged  in  three  classes  in  a  list  called 
the  Tripos,  a  name  derived  from  the  three-legged  stool  whereon. sat  in  former 
days  one  of  the  bachelors,  who  recited  a  set  of  satirical  verses  at  the  time  the 
degrees  were  conferred.  In  the  Mathematical  Tripos  the  first  class  are  called 
Wranglers,  and  the  others  Senior  and  Junior  Optimes.  Thus  graduate  the 
"  Dons  "  of  Cambridge. 

TRINITY    AND    ST.    JOHN'S    COLLEGES. 

Let  us  now  take  a  brief  review  of  the  seventeen  colleges  of  Cambridge. 
In  Trinity  Street  is  Trinity  College,  founded  in  1546  by  Henry  VIII.  It  con- 
sists of  four  quadrangular  courts,  the  Great  Court  being  the  largest  quad- 
rangle in  the  university,  and  entered  from  the  street  by  the  grand  entrance- 
tower  known  as  the  King's  Gateway.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  quadrangle 
are  the  chapel  and  King  Edward's  Court,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  southern 
side  the  Queen's  Tower,  with  a  statue  of  Queen  Mary.  In  the  centre  of  the 
quadrangle  is  a  quaint  conduit.  The  chapel  is  a  plain  wainscoted  room,  with 
an  ante-chapel  filled  with  busts  of  former  members  of  the  college — among  them 
Bacon  and  Macaulay — and  also  a  noble  statue  of  Newton.  Trinity  College 
Hall  is  one  hundred  feet  long  and  the  finest  in  Cambridge,  its  walls  being- 
adorned  with  several  portraits.  It  was  in  Trinity  that  Byron,  Dryden,  Cowley, 
Herbert,  and  Tennyson  were  all  students.  There  are  said  to  be  few  spec- 
tacles more  impressive  than  the  choral  service  on  Sunday  evening  in  term- 
time,  when  Trinity  Chapel  is  crowded  with  surpliced  students.  In  the  Master's 
Lodge,  on  the  western  side  of  the  quadrangle,  are  the  state-apartments  where 
royalty  is  lodged  when  visiting  Cambridge,  and  here  also  in  special  apartments 
the  judges  are  housed  when  on  circuit.  Through  screens  or  passages  in  the 
hall  the  second  quadrangle,  Neville's  Court,  is  entered,  named  for  a  master  of 
the  college  who  died  in  1615.  Here  is  the  library,  an  attractive  apartment 


/•AY.Y/7T  AND   ST.    JOH.\"S   COLLEGES. 


24I 


supported  on  columns,  which  contains  Newton's  telescope  and  some  of  his 
manuscripts,  and  also  a  statue  of  Byron.  The  King's  (or  New)  Court,  is  a 
modern  addition,  built  in  the  present  century  at  a  cost  of  $200,000.  From  this 
the  College  Walks  open  on  the  western  side,  the  view  from  the  gateway  look- 
ing down  the  long  avenue  of  lime  trees  being  strikingly  beautiful.  The  Mas- 
ter's Court  is  the  fourth  quadrangle. 


TRINITY    COM.EGF.. 


Adjoining  Trinity  is  its  rival,  St.  John's  College,  also  consisting  of  four 
courts,  though  one  of  them  is  of  modern  construction  and  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river.  This  college  was  founded  by  the  countess  Margaret  of 
Richmond,  mother  of  Henry  VII.,  and  opened  in  1516,  having  been  for  three 
centuries  previously  a  hospital.  It  is  generally  regarded  from  this  circum- 
stance as  being  the  oldest  college  at  Cambridge.  The  gateway  is  a  tower 
of  mingled  brick  and  stone  and  one  of  the  earliest  structures  of  the  college. 
Entering  it,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  court  is  seen  the  New  Chapel,  but 
recently  completed,  a  grand  edifice  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  feet  long  and 
sixty-three  feet  high,  with  a  surmounting  tower  whose  interior  space  is  open 
and  rises  eighty-four  feet  above  the  pavement.  The  roof  and  the  windows  are 


242 


K.  \GI.A.\D, 


A.\l>    DKSCK/Pr/l'K. 


richly  colored,  and  variegated  marbles  have  been  employed  in  the  interior 
decoration.  The  eastern  end  is  a  five-sided  apse;  the  ceiling  is  vaulted  in 
oak,  while  the  chapel  has  a  magnificent  screen.  Between  (.he  first  and  second 
courts  is  the  hall,  recently  enlarged  and  decorated,  and  the  library  is  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  third  court.  It  is  a  picturesque  room  of  James  I.'s  time, 
with  a  timbered  roof,  whitened  walls,  and  carved  oaken  bookcases  black  with 
age.  The  second  court  is  of  earlier  date,  and  a  fine  specimen  of  sixteenth- 
century  brickwork.  On  the  southern  side  is  an  octagonal  turret,  at  the  top 
of  which  is  the  queer  little  room  occupied  by  Dr.  Wood,  whose  statue  is  in  the 
chapel.  When  he  first  came  to  college  from  his  humble  home  in  the  north  of 


ST.    JOHN  S    CHAPEL. 

England  he  was  so  poor  that  he  studied  by  the  light  of  the  staircase  candle, 
and  wrapped  his  feet  in  wisps  of  hay  in  winter  to  save  the  cost  of  a  fire.  He 
became  the  Senior  Wrangler,  and  in  due  course  a  Fellow,  and  ultimately 
master  of  the  college.  To  this  was  added  the  deanery  of  Ely.  Dying,  he 
bequeathed  his  moderate  fortune  for  the  aid  of  poor  students  and  the  benefit 
of  his  college.  Of  the  third  court  the  cloister  on  the  western  side  fronts  the 
river.  The  New  Court,  across  the  Cam,  is  a  handsome  structure,  faced  with 
stone  and  surmounted  by  a  tower.  A  covered  Gothic  bridge  leads  to  it  over 
the  river  from  the  older  parts  of  the  college.  In  the  garden  along  the  river, 
known  as  the  Wilderness,  Prior  the  poet  is  said  to  have  laid  out  the  walks. 
I  lere  among  the  students  who  have  taken  recreation  have  been  Wordsworth 
and  Herschel,  Wilberforce  and  Stillingfleet. 


C AH'S  A\J)    CLARE   COLLEGES.  243 


CAIUS    AND    CLARE    COLLEGES. 

It  took  two  founders  to  establish  Gonville  and  Caius  College,  and  both  their 
names  are  preserved  in  the  title,  though  it  is  best  known  as  Caius  (pronounced 
Keys)  College.  Its  buildings  were  ancient,  but  have  been  greatly  changed  in 
the  present  century,  so  that  the  chief  entrance  is  now  beneath  a  lofty  tower, 
part  of  the  New  Court  and  fronting  the  Senate  House.  This  New  Court  is 
a  fine  building,  ornamented  with  busts  of  the  most  conspicuous  men  of  Caius. 
Beyond  is  the  smaller  or  Caius  Court  of  this  college,  constructed  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  "  Gate  of  Virtue  and  Wisdom"  connects  them,  and  is 
surmounted  by  an  odd  turret.  On  the  other  side  is  the  "  Gate  of  Honor,"  a 
good  specimen  of  the  Renaissance.  The  "Gate  of  Humility  "  was  removed  in 
rebuilding  the  New  Court.  Thus  did  this  college  give  its  students  veritable 
sermons  in  stones.  The  founders  of  Caius  were  physicians,  and  among  its 
most  eminent  members  were  Hervey  and  Jeremy  Taylor.  Adjoining  Caius 
is  Trinity  Hall,  as  noted  for  the  law  as  its  neighbor  is  for  medicine,  and  imme- 
diately to  the  south  is  a  group  of  university  buildings.  Among  these  is  the 
Senate  House,  opened  in  1 730,  where  the  university  degrees  are  conferred. 
It  has  a  fine  interior,  especially  the  ceiling,  and  among  the  statues  is  an  impres- 
sive one  of  the  younger  Pitt.  The  most  exciting  scene  in  the  Senate  House 
is  when  the  result  of  the  mathematical  examination  is  announced.  This  for 
a  long  time  was  almost  the  only  path  to  distinction  at  Cambridge.  When  all 
are  assembled  upon  a  certain  Friday  morning  in  January,  one  of  the  examiners 
stands  up  in  the  centre  of  the  western  gallery  and  just  as  the  clock  strikes 
nine  proclaims  to  the  crowd  the  name  of  the  "  Senior  Wrangler,"  or  first  stu- 
dent of  the  year,  with  a  result  of  deafening  cheers  ;  then  the  remainder  of  the 
list  is  read.  On  the  following  day  the  recipients  of  degrees  and  visitors  sit 
on  the  lower  benches,  and  the  undergraduates  cram  the  galleries.  Then  with 
much  pomp  the  favored  student  is  conducted  to  the  vice-chancellor  to  receive 
his  first  degree  alone.  The  University  Library  is  near  by,  and,  as  it  gets  a 
copy  of  every  book  entered  for  English  copyright,  it  has  become  a  large  one. 
Some  of  the  manuscripts  it  contains  are  very  valuable,  particularly  the  Codex 
Beza,  a  manuscript  of  the  Gospels  given  in  1581  by  Beza. 

Adjoining  Trinity  Hall  is  the  beautiful  court  of  Clare  College,  dating  from 
the  time  of  the  Civil  Wars,  when  it  replaced  older  structures.  Its  exterior  is 
most  attractive  to  visitors,  exhibiting  the  pleasing  architecture  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  river-front  is  much  admired,  while  the  gateway  is  marked  by 
quaint  lantern-like  windows.  In  the  library  is  one  of  the  rare  Bibles  of  Sixtus 
V.,  and  in  the  Master's  Lodge  is  kept  the  poison-cup  of  Clare,  which  is  both 


244 


E.\GI..I.\D, 


curious  and  beautiful.  The  gentle  lady's  mournful  fate  has  been  told  by  Scott 
in  Mann  ion.  Tillotson  and  other  famous  divines  were  students  at  Clare,  and 
the  college  also  claims  Chaucer,  but  this  is  doubtful,  though  the  college  figures 

in  his  story  of  the  "  Mill- 
er of  Trumpington," 
and  also  adjuts  upon 


Trumpington  Street.  Upon  the  opposite  side  of 
this  street  is  Great  St.  Mary's  Church,  the  univer- 
sity church,  an  attractive  building  of  Perpendic- 
ular architecture  and  having  fine  chimes  of  bells.  Here  the  vice-chancellor 
listens  to  a  sermon  every  Sunday  afternoon  in  term-time.  Formerly,  on  these 
occasions,  the  "  heads  and  doctors  "  of  the  university  sat  in  an  enclosed  gal- 
lery built  like  a  sort  of  gigantic  opera-box,  and  profanely  called  the  "  Gol- 
gotha." A  huge  pulpit  faced  them  on  the  other  end  of  the  church,  and  the 
centre  formed  a  sort  of  pit.  Modern  improvements  have,  however,  swept  this 
away,  replacing  it  with  ordinary  pews. 

KING'S,    CORPUS    CHRISTI,    AND    QUEENS'    COLLEGES. 

Trumpington  Street  broadens  into  the  King's  Parade,  and  here,  entered 
through  a  modern  buttressed  screen  pierced  with  openings  filled  with  tracery, 
is  King's  College.  It  was  founded  by  Henry  VI.  in  1440,  and  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  school  at  Eton,  from  which  the  more  advanced  scholars 
were  to  be  transferred.  The  great  King's  Chapel,  which  gives  an  idea  of  the 
grand  scale  on  which  this  college  was  to  be  constructed,  is  the  special  boast  of 
Cambridge.  It  is  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  forty-five  feet  wide,  and 


CORPUS   CHRIST!,    AND    OL'EEXS'    COLLEGES. 


245 


seventy-eight  feet  high,  with  a  marvellously  fretted  roof  of  stone,  and  large 
windows  at  the  sides  and  ends  filled  with  beautiful  stained  glass.  This  is  the 
most  imposing  of  all  the  buildings  in  Cambridge,  and  occupies  the  entire 
northern  side  of  the  college  court.  Its  fine  doorway  is  regarded  as  the  most 
pleasing  part  of  the  exterior  design. 
The  stained-glass  windows  are  di- 
vided into  an  upper  and  lower  series 
of  pictures.  The  lower  is  a  contin- 
uous chain  of  gospel  history,  while 
theupperexhibitstheOld-Testament 
types  of  the  subjects  represented 
below.  Although  designed  on  such 
a  magnificent  scale,  the  Wars  of  the 

o 

Roses  interfered  with  the  comple- 
tion of  King's  College,  and  even 
the  chapel  was  not  finished  until 
Henry  VIII. 's  reign.  The  other 
college  buildings  are  modern. 

Adjoining  King's  is  Corpus  Christi 
College,  the  buildings  being  almost 
entirely  modern.  Of  the  ancient 
structure  one  small  court  alone  re- 
mains, a  picturesque  steep-roofed 
building  almost  smothered  in  ivy. 
Corpus  Christi  Hall  is  said  to  have 
been  partly  designed  after  the  great 
hall  of  Kenilworth.  In  its  library 
are  the  famous  manuscripts  rescued 
from  the  suppressed  monasteries, 
there  being  four  hundred  interest- 
ing and  curious  volumes  of  these 
precious  documents,  which  are  most  jealously  guarded.  Opposite  Corpus  is 
St.  Catharine's  College,  with  a  comparatively  plain  hall  and  chapel.  Behind 
this  is  Queens'  College,  an  antique  structure,  though  not  a  very  ancient  foun- 
dation. Its  entrance-tower  is  of  brick,  and  a  quaint  low  cloister  runs  around  the 
interior  court.  Within  is  Erasmus's  Court,  where  are  pointed  out  the  rooms 
once  occupied  bv  that  great  scholar.  Across  the  river  a  wooden  bridge  leads  to 
a  terrace  by  the  water-side  with  an  overhanging  border  of  elms,  and  known  as 
Erasmus's  Walk.  This  college  was  founded  by  the  rival  queens,  Margaret  of 


KING  S  COLLEGE  CHAPEL — INTERIOR. 


246 


ENGLAND,  /YcVTA'A'Vjr/-:  A.\D 


Anjou  and  Elizabeth  Wid- 
vile,  and  though  it  is  very 
proud  of  having  had  the 
great  scholar  of  the  Refor- 
mation within  its  halls,  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  en- 
tirely reciprocated  the  pleas- 
ure ;  for  he  complains  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend  that  while 
there  "  he  was  blockaded 
with  the  plague,  beset  with 
thieves,  and  drugged  with 
bad  wine."  Returning  to 
Trumpington  Street,  we  find 
on  the  western  side  the  Uni- 
versity Printing  Press,  named 
from  the  younger  statesman 
the  Pitt  Press.  He  rep- 
resented the  university  in 
Parliament,  and  the  lofty 
square  and  pinnacled  tower 
of  this  printing-office  is  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  ob- 
jects in  Cambridge.  Yet 
DOORWAY  OF  KING'S  cou.wip.  rHAi'Ei..  even  this  structure  has  its 

contrasts,   for  the   "  Cantabs  "  consider  that  its  architecture  is  as  bad  as  its 

typography  is  good. 

OTHER  CAMBRIDGE  COLLEGES. 

Pembroke  College,  near  the  Pitt  Press,  has  a  chapel  designed  by  Christopher 
Wren  and  recently  enlarged.  This  was  the  college  of  Spenser  and  Gray,  the 
latter  having  migrated  from  the  neighboring  Peterhouse  because  of  the  prac- 
tical jokes  the  students  played  upon  him.  It  was  also  Pitt's  college.  Opposite 
Pembroke  is  Peterhouse,  or  St.  Peter's  College,  the  most  ancient  foundation 
in  Cambridge,  established  by  Hugh  de  Balsham,  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  1284. 
Beyond  Peterhouse  is  the  Eitzwilliam  Museum,  a  most  successful  reproduc- 
tion of  classic  architecture,  built  and  maintained  by  a  legacy  of  $500,000  left 
by  Viscount  Fitzwilliam  in  1816.  It  contains  an  excellent  art  and  literary  col- 
lection, which  was  begun  by  the  viscount.  This  is  regarded  as  probably  the 


'I  he  Senate  I  louse         a    Tin-  1'in   IV   i 


NKS     IN    •  AMl:RlI>i;K. 
Tin-    l\mirnl  (,'liunii.          4     (  Irtial   St.  Mary*! 


The   Fit?willir,ni   Must-inn. 
247 


-4<s  KNGLAND^PICTURESQUE  AND   />/-:sCK//>7VrJi. 

finest  classical  building  constructed  in  the  present  century  in  England.  A 
short  distance  beyond,  at  the  end  of  a  water-course,  is  an  attractive  hexagonal 
structure  with  niched  recesses  and  ornamental  capstones.  This  is  Hobson's 
Conduit,  erected  in  1614  by  Thomas  Hobson.  This  benefactor  of  Cambridge 
was  a  carrier  between  London  and  the  university,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the 
originator  of  "  Hobson's  Choice."  The  youngest  foundation  at  Cambridge  is 
Downing  College,  erected  in  1807,  an  unobtrusive  structure,  and  near  by  is 
Emmanuel  College,  built  on  the  site  of  a  Dominican  convent  and  designed 
by  Wren.  It  was  founded  by  Sir  Walter  Milclmay,  the  Puritan,  in  1584,  who 
on  going  to  court  was  taxed  by  Queen  Mary  with  having  erected  a  Puritan 
college.  'No,  madam,"  he  replied,  "  far  be  it  from  me  to  countenance  anything 
contrary  to  your  established  laws,  but  I  have  set  an  acorn,  which  when  it  be- 
comes an  oak  God  alone  knows  what  will  be  the  fruit  thereof."  Sir  William 
Temple  was  educated  at  Emmanuel.  Christ's  College  is  near  by,  chiefly  inter- 
esting from  its  associations  with  Milton,  whose  rooms  are  still  pointed  out, 
while  a  mulberry  tree  that  he  planted  is  preserved  in  the  garden.  Latimer 
and  Paley,  with  a  host  of  other  divines,  were  students  here.  This  college  was 
founded  by  Queen  Margaret,  mother  of  Henry  VII..  and  some  beautiful  silver 
plate,  her  gift  to  the  Fellows,  is  still  preserved.  At  Sidney-Sussex  College 
Cromwell  was  a  Fellow  in  1616,  and  his  crayon  portrait  hangs  in  the  dining- 
hall.  Owing  to  want  of  means,  he  left  without  taking  a  degree.  An  oriel 
window  projecting  over  the  street  is  said  to  mark  his  chamber.  Upon  Bridge 
Street  is  the  Round  Church,  or  St.  Sepulchre's  Church,  obtaining  its  name  from 
its  circular  Norman  nave,  this  being  one  of  the  four  "Temple  churches"  still 
remaining  in  England.  Across  the  Cam  stands  Magdalene  College,  founded 
in  1519  by  Baron  Thomas  Audley  of  Walden.  Within  the  building  behind  it 
are  the  literary  collections  of  Samuel  Pepys,  who  was  secretary  to  the  Admiralty 
in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.,  together  with  the  manuscript  of  his 
famous  diary,  a  book  of  marvellous  gossip,  recording  the  peccadilloes  of  its 
author,  the  jealousy  of  his  wife,  and  the  corruptions  of  the  court.  He  was 
educated  at  Magdalene. 

Jesus  Eane  leads  out  of  Bridge  Street  to  Jesus  College,  remotely  placed  on 
the  river-bank,  and  of  which  the  chief  building  of  interest  is  the  chapel,  a  fine 
Gothic  structure.  This  college  is  upon  the  site  of  a  Benedictine  nunnery 
founded  in  1133,  and  is  entered  by  a  lofty  brick  gate-tower  which  is  much 
admired,  and  was  constructed  soon  after  the  foundation  of  the  college  in 
1497  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  whose  successors  until  this  day  retain  the  gift  of 
the  mastership.  From  Jesus  Eane  a  path  leads  down  to  the  boat-houses  on 
the  river-bank,  where  each  college  has  a  boat-club  wearing  a  distinctive  dress. 


THE 


249 


The  racecourse  is  at  the  Long  Reach, 
just  below  the  town.  Of  the  an- 
cient Cambridge  Castle,  built  by 
the  Conqueror  in  1068,  nothing  re- 
mains but  the  mound  upon  Castle 
Hill,  where  the  county  courts  are 
now  located.  Cambridge,  however, 
has  little  besides  its  university  build 
ings  to  attract  attention.  In  the 
suburbs  are  two  colleges  for  the 
instruction  of  lady  students,  and 
two  miles  away  is  Trumpington, 
near  which  is  the  site  of  the  mill 
told  of  in  Chaucer's  Canterbury 
tale  of  the  Miller  of  Tnimping'ton. 
The  place  is  now  used  for  gates  tc 
admit  the  river-water  into  Byron's 
Pool,  which  is  so  called  because  the 
poet  frequently  bathed  in  it  when  he 
was  an  undergraduate  of  Trinity 
College. 


r;,\TEWAY   JESUS    COLLEGE. 


THE    FENLAND. 

The  river  Cam  below  Cambridge  Hows  through  that  country  of  reclaimed 
marshland  which  ultimately  ends  in  the  Wash,  between  Norfolk  and  Lincoln- 
shire, and  is  known  as  the  Fenland.  This  "  Great  Level  of  the  Fens  "  has 
been  drained  and  reclaimed  by  the  labors  of  successive  generations  of 
engineers,  and  contains  about  six  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  acres  of  the 
richest  lands  in  England,  being  as  much  the  product  of  engineering  skill  as 
Holland  itself.  Not  many  centuries  ago  this  vast  surface,  covering  two  thou- 
sand square  miles,  was  entirely  abandoned  to  the  waters,  forming  an  immense 
estuary  of  the  Wash,  into  which  various  rivers  discharge  the  rainfall  of  Central 
England.  In  winter  it  was  an  inland  sea  and  in  summer  a  noxious  swamp. 
The  more  elevated  parts  were  overgrown  with  tall  reeds  that  in  the  distance 
looked  like  fields  of  waving  corn,  and  immense  flocks  of  wild-fowl  haunted 
them.  Into  this  dismal  swamp  the  rivers  brought  down  their  freshets,  the 
waters  mingling  and  winding  by  devious  channels  before  they  reached  the  sea. 
The  silt  with  which  they  were  laden  became  deposited  in  the  basin  of  the  Fens, 
and  thus  the  river-beds  were  choked  up,  compelling  the  intercepted  waters  to 


250 


/•:.Y6Y..-/.Y/J,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


J 


i 


*W 

fifi 


HENfiRAVE    HALL. 


force  new  channels  through  the  ooze  ;  hence  then:  are  numerous  abandoned 
beds  of  old  rivers  still  traceable  amid  the  level  of  the  Fens.     This  region  now 

is  drained  and  dyked,  but 
in  earlier  times  it  was  a 
wilderness  of  shallow  wa- 
ters and  reedy  islets,  with 
frequent  "islands"  of  firmer 
and  more  elevated  ground. 
These  were  availed  of  for 
the  monasteries  of  the  Fen- 
land —  lily,  Peterborough, 
Crowland,  and  others,  all 
established  by  the  Bene- 
dictines. The  abbey  of 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  although  situated  some  distance  from  the  marshland,  may 
also  be  classed  among  the  religious  houses  of  the  Fens.  This  abbey,  which  is 
a  short  distance  east  of  Cambridge,  was  built  in  the  eleventh  century  as  the 
shrine  of  St.  Ed- 
mund, King  of  East 
Anglia,  who  was 
killed  by  the  Danes 
about  the  year  870. 
It  soon  became  one 
of  the  wealthiest 
English  monasteries, 
and  was  the  chief  re- 
ligious centre  of  that 
section.  Only  ruins 
remain,  the  chief 
being  the  abbey- 
gate,  now  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Marquis 
of  Bristol,  and  the 
Norman  tower  and 
church,  which  have 
recently  been  re- 
stored. In  the  suburbs  of  Bury  is  H engrave  Hall,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
Tudor  mansions  remaining  in  the  kingdom.  Originally,  it  was  three  times  its 
present  size,  and  was  built  by  Sir  Thomas  Kytson  about  1525.  Its  gate-house 


KOAD    LEADING   TO    ELY    CLOSE. 


THE   I'EXLAXD. 


is  rich  in  details,  and  the  main  windows  and  projections  of  the  southern  tront 
group  picturesquely. 

Following  the  Cam  northward  from  Cambridge  through  the  marshland,  we 
come  to  the  Isle  of  Ely,  the  great  "  fortress  of  the  Fens,"  and  standing  upon 
its  highest  ground  the  cathedral  of  Ely.  Here  St.  Etheldrcda  founded  a  mon- 
astery in  the  seventh  century,  which  ultimately  became  a  cathedral,  Ely  having 
been  given  a  bishop  in  i  109.  The  present  buildings  date  all  the  way  from  the 


KLY   CATHEDRAL,    FKO.M    THE    RAILWAY-BRIDGE. 

eleventh  to  the  sixteenth  century,  so  that  they  give  specimens  of  all  Gothic 
styles.  The  cathedral  is  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  feet  long,  and  from  the 
summit  of  its  western  tower  can  be  gained  a  fine  view  of  the  spreading  fens 
and  lowlands  of  Cambridgeshire,  amid  which  stands  the  Isle  of  Ely.  One  of 
the  finest  views  of  this  tower  is  that  obtained  from  the  road  leading  to  Ely 
Close.  Before  drainage  had  improved  the  surrounding  country  this  was  one 
of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  England,  and  it  was  also  one  of  the  last  to  yield 


)•:. \GLA.vn,  ricri'Ri'.son-:  AND 


to    the    Norman    Conquest,    its   reduction   causing   King   William   heavy  loss. 
Afterwards  he   regarded  it  as  among  his   most   loyal  strongholds.     The  lofty 

tower,  and  indeed  the  whole  cathedral,  are 
landmarks  for  the  entire  country  round,  and 
from  the   rising  ground  at  Cambridge,  fully 
twenty  miles  to  the  southward,  can  be  seen 
standing   out   against    the   sky.       From    the 
dykes  and   fields    and   meadows   that  have 
replaced   the   marshes   along   the   Cam  and 
Ouse  the  huge  tower  can  be  seen  looming 
up   in    stately   grandeur.      It   is    almost    the 
sole  attraction  of  the  sleepy  little  country 
town.      The  great   feature  of  this 
massive  cathedral  is  the  wonderful 
central  octagon,  with  its  domelike 
roof   crowned   by  a  lofty  lantern, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  only  Gothic 
dome  of   its   kind  in   existence  in 
England  or  France.     We  are  told 
that  the   original  cathedral  had  a 
central  tower,  which  for  some  time 
showed   signs   of  instability,   until 
on  one  winter's  morning  in    1321 
it  came   down  with  an  earthquake 
crash   and   severed    the   cathedral 
into  four  arms.    In  reconstructing  it,  to  ensure  security, 
the  entire  breadth  of  the  church  was  taken  as  a  base 
for  the  octagon,  so  that  it  was  more  than  three  times 
as  large  as  the  original  square  tower.     Magnificent 
windows  are   inserted   in    the   exterior  faces  of   the 
octagon,  and  the  entire  cathedral  has  been  recently 
restored.     It  was  to  Bishop  Cox,  who  then  presided 
over  the  see  of  Ely,  that  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  he 
objected  to  the  alienation  of  certain  church  property, 
wrote  her  famous  letter: 

"  PROUD  PRELATE  :  You  know  what  you  were  before 
I  made  you  what  you  are ;  if  you  do  not  immediately 
comply  with  my  request,  by  God,  I  will  unfrock  you. 

"  ElJZAHETH   R." 


OLIJ    BITS    IN   ELY. 


I.  Old  passage  from  Ely  Street  to 
Cathedral  Ford.  2.  Entrance  to 
1'rior  Crawdon's  Chapel.  3.  Old 
huiises  in  Hij;h  Street. 


PE  TI-.R  /.'  OR  O  UGH  CA  THEDRA  L. 


253 


The  bishop,  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say,  surrendered.  The  town  contains 
little  of  interest  beyond  some  quaint  old  houses. 

PETERBOROUGH    CATHEDRAL. 

North-westward  of  Ely,  and  just  on  the  border  of  the  Fenland,  Saxulf,  a  thane 
of  Mercia  who  had  acquired  great  wealth,  founded  the  first  and  most  powerful 
of  the  great  Benedictine  abbeys  of  this  region  in  the  year  655.  Around  this 


PETERBOROUGH    CATHEDRAL. 


celebrated  religious  house  has  grown  the  town  of  Peterborough,  now  one  of 
the  chief  railway-junctions  in  Midland  England.  The  remains  of  the  monastic 
buildings,  and  especially  of  the  cathedral,  are  magnificent,  the  great  feature  of 
the  latter  being  its  western  front,  which  was  completed  in  the  thirteenth  century. 


254 


ENGLAND,  1'ICTVRESOUE  .l.\7)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


and  has  three  great  open  arches,  making  probably  the  finest  church-portico  in 
Europe.     On  the  left  of  the  cathedral  is  the  chancel  of  Becket's  Chapel,  now 

a  grammar-school,  while  on  the  right  is  the 
ancient  gateway  of  the  abbot's  lodgings, 
which  has  become  the  entrance  to  the 
bishop's  palace.  The  main  part  of  the 
cathedral  is  Norman,  though  portions  are 
Early  English.  It  is  built  in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  with  a  smaller  transept  at  the  western 
end,  while  the  choir  terminates  in  an  apse, 
and  a  central  tower  rises  from  four  sup- 
porting arches.  Within  the  cathedral,  over 
the  doorway,  is  a  picture  of  old  Scarlet, 
Peterborough's  noted  sexton,  who  buried 
Catharine  of  Arragon  and  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots.  The  nave  has  an  ancient  wooden 
roof,  carefully  preserved  and  painted  with 
various  devices.  The  transept  arches  are 
fine  specimens  of  Norman  work.  Queen 
AISLK  AND  CHOIR,  PKTKKHOROUOH  CATHEDRAL.  (;atharjne  lies  under  a  slab  in  the  aisle  of 
St.  John's  Chapel,  but  the  remains  of  Queen  Mary  were  removed  to  West- 
minster Abbey  by  James  I.,  to  the  magnificent  tomb  he  prepared  there  for  his 
mother. 

C  ROWLAND     MUSKY. 

Farther  northward  in  the  Fenland,  and  over  the  border  in  Lincolnshire,  was 
the  Benedictine  abbey  of  "courteous  Crowland,"  though  its  remains  are  now 
scanty.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  "  Land  of  Crows,"  which  in  this  part  is 
drained  by  the  Wellancl  River  and  the  great  Bedford  Level.  On  one  of  the 
many  islands  of  firmer  soil  abounding  in  this  oozy  region  the  monks  con- 
structed their  monastery,  but  had  little  space  for  cultivation,  and  brought  their 
food  from  remoter  possessions.  Now,  Crowland  is  no  longer  an  island,  for  the 
drainage  has  made  fast  land  all  about,  and  the  ruins  have  attracted  a  straggling 
village.  Here  is  the  famous  "triangular  bridge,"  a  relic  of  the  abbey.  Three 
streams  met,  and  the  bridge  was  made  to  accommodate  the  monks,  who,  from 
whatever  direction  they  approached,  had  to  cross  one  of  them.  The  streams 
now  are  conveyed  underground,  but  the  bridge  remains  like  a  stranded  mon- 
ster which  the  tide  has  abandoned,  and  gives  the  children  a  play-place. .  Its 
steep  half-arches,  meeting  in  the  centre,  are  climbed  by  rough  steps.  The 


CKOU'LAXD  ARBEY. 


dissolved  abbey  served  as  a  quarry  for  the  village,  and  hence  on  this  strange 
bridge  and  on  all  the  houses  fragments  of  worked  stone  and  of  sculpture 
everywhere  appear.  It  was  located  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  village,  where 
its  ruins  still  stand  up  as  a  guide  across  the  fens,  seen  from  afar.  Most  of  it 
is  in  complete  ruin,  but  the  north  aisle  of  the  nave  has  been  sufficiently  pre- 
served to  serve  as  the  parish  church  of  Crowland  ;  round  about  the  church 
and  the  ruins  extends  the  village  graveyard.  Set  up  in  the  porch  beneath  the 
tower  is  a  memorial  for  William  Hill,  the  sexton,  who  died  in  1792.  When 
forty  years  old  he  \vas  blinded  by  exposure  during  a  snowfall,  yet  he  lived  for 


EAST    END    OF    CKOWLAND    ABBEY. 


twenty-five   years  afterwards,  able  to  find   his  way   everywhere  and  to   know 
every  grave  in   the  churchyard. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  Christianity  the  solitudes  in  this  Fenland  had  peculiar 
attractions  for  the  hermits  who  fled  from  the  world  to  embrace  an  ascetic  life. 
Thus  the  islands  each  gradually  got  its  hermit,  and  the  great  monasteries  grew 
up  by  degrees,  starting  usually  in  the  cell  of  some  recluse.  Guthlac,  who  lived 
in  the  seventh  century,  was  of  the  royal  House  of  Mercia,  and  voluntarily  ex- 
iled himself  in  the  Fens.  This  region  was  then,  according  to  popular  belief, 
the  haunt  ot  myriads  of  evil  spirits,  who  delighted  in  attacking  the  hermits. 
They  assaulted  Guthlac  in  hosts,  disturbed  him  by  strange  noises,  once  carried 
him  far  away  to  the  icy  regions  of  the  North,  and  not  seldom  took  the  form  of 


256  E.\\;/.ANF>,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


crows,  the  easier  to  torment  him  ;  but  his  steady  prayers  and  penance  ultimate- 
ly put  them  to  flight,  and  the  existence  of  his  cell  became  known  to  the  world. 
Ethelbald  fled  to  Guthlac  for  refuge,  and  the  hermit  predicted  he  would  become 
king,  which  in  time  came  to  pass.  Guthlac  died  at  Crowland,  and  the  grateful 
king  built  a  stone  church  there.  The  buildings  increased,  their  great  treasure 
being  of  course  the  tomb  of  the  hermit,  which  became  a  source  of  many  mira- 
cles. The  Northmen  in  the  ninth  century  plundered  and  destroyed  Crowland, 
but  it  was  restored,  and  in  Edward  the  Confessor's  time  was  one  of  the  five 
religious  houses  ruled  by  the  powerful  abbot  of  Peterborough.  It  became 
the  shrine  of  Waltheof,  the  Earl  of  Northampton  beheaded  for  opposing  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror,  and  Crowland  was  thus  made  a  stronghold  of  English 
feeling  against  the  Normans,  like  the  other  monasteries  of  the  Eens.  Its  fame 
declined  somewhat  after  the  Conquest,  though  its  hospitality  was  fully  main- 
tained. It  had  little  subsequent  history.  The  abbey  was  garrisoned  by  the 
Royalists,  and  captured  by  Cromwell  in  i  643,  after  which  it  fell  into  ruin.  Such 
has  been  the  fate  of  almost  all  the  religious  houses  in  the  Fens,  the  merits  of 
which  the  people  in  the  olden  time  judged  according  to  a  local  rhyme  which 
yet  survives  : 

"Ramsay,  the  bounteous  of  gold  and  of  fee  ; 
Crowland,  as  courteous  as  courteous  may  be  . 
Spalding  the  rich,  and  Peterborough  the  proud; 
Sawtrey,  by  the  way,  that  poor  abbaye, 
Gave  more  alms  in  one  day  than  all  they." 

NORWICH. 

Proceeding  eastward  out  of  the  Fenland  and  among  the  hills  of  Norfolk,  the 
little  river  Wensum  is  found  to  have  cut  a  broad,  deep,  and  trench-like  valley 
into  the  chalk  and  gravel  plateau.  Upon  the  elevated  bank  of  the  river  is  the 
irregularly  picturesque  town  of  Norwich,  with  the  castle-keep  rising  above  the 
undulating  mass  of  buildings,  and  the  cathedral  and  its  noble  spire  overtopping 
the  lower  portion  of  the  city  on  the  right  hand.  Norwich  is  an  ancient  town, 
but  very  little  is  known  with  certainty  about  it  anterior  to  the  Danish  invasions. 
We  are  told  that  its  original  location  was  at  the  more  southerly  castle  of  Cais- 
ter,  whence  the  inhabitants  migrated  to  the  present  site,  for— 

"  Caister  was  a  city  when   Norwich  was  none, 
And  Norwich  was  built  of  Caister  stone." 

Canute  held  possession  of  Norwich  and  had  a  castle  there,  but  the  present 
castle  seems  to  date  from  the  Norman  Conquest,  when  it  was  granted  to  Ralph 
dc  Ouader,  who  turned  traitor  to  the  king,  causing  Norfolk  to  be  besieged, 


NORWIClf. 


257 


captured,  and  greatly  injured.  Then  the  castle  was  granted  to  Roger  Bigod. 
The  town  grew,  and  became  especially  prosperous  from  the  settlement  there 
of  numerous  Flemish  weavers  in  the  fourteen:!!  century  and  of  Walloons  in 
Elizabeth's  reign.  It  managed  to  keep  pretty  well  out  of  the  Civil  Wars,  but 

a  local  historian   says,  "  The  inhabitants 
have    been    saved    from    stagnation   by 
the  exceeding  bitterness  with  which  all 
and  local   political  questions  are 
issed   and    contested,    and    by   the 


party 


NORWICH    CASTLE. 


hearty  way  in  which  all  classes  throw  themselves  into  all  really  patriotic  move- 
ments, when  their  party  feeling  occasionally  sleeps  for  a  month  or  two."  Nor- 
wich is  pre-eminently  a  town  of  churches,  into  the  construction  of  which  flint 
enters  largely,  it  bjing  dressed  with  great  skill  into  small  roughened  cubical 
blocks. 

The  great  attraction  of  Norwich  is  the  cathedral,  which  stands  upon  a  low 
peninsula  enclosed  by  a  semicircular  sweep  of  the  river,  much  of  the  ground 
in  this  region  having  been  originally  a  swamp.  The  cathedral  is  generally 
approached  from  its  western  side,  where  there  is  an  open  space  in  front  of  the 
Close  called  Tombland,  upon  which  two  gates  open  from  it.  These  are  St. 
Hthelbert's  and  the  Erpingham  gate.  The  latter,  opposite  the  western  front 
of  the  cathedral,  is  named  for  its  builder,  "old  Sir  Thomas  Erpingham,"  whose 
"good  white  head,"  Shakespeare  tells  us,  was  to  be  seen  on  the  field  of  Agin- 
court.  The  cathedral  is  a  Norman  structure,  cruciform  in  plan,  with  an  excep- 
tionally long  nave,  an  apsidal  choir,  and  attached  chapels.  The  earliest  parts 
of  it  were  begun  in  1096,  and  when  partially  completed  five  years  afterwards 
it  was  handed  over  to  the  care  of  the  Benedictine  monks.  Thirty  years  later 


258 


ENGLAND,  J'/CTL'K^SQL'E  A.\'l>   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  nave  was  added,  but  the  cathedral  was  not  completed  until  about  1150. 
Twice  it  was  seriously  injured  by  fire,  and  it  was  not  thoroughly  restored  for  a 
century,  when  in  1278  it  was  again  consecrated  with  great  pomp,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Edward  I.  and  his  court,  on  Advent  Sunday.  The  spire,  which  is  one 
of  its  most  conspicuous  features,  was  added  by  Bishop  Percy  in  the  fourteenth 


NORWICH    CAT1 


century,  though,  having  been  seriously  injured  by  lightning,  it  had  to  be  replaced 
afterwards.  At  the  same  time  the  building  was  greatly  altered,  its  roofs  raised 
and  vaulted,  and  repairs  went  on  until  1536.  Yet,  with  all  the  changes  that 
were  made  in  this  famous  cathedral,  no  other  in  England  has  managed  to  pre- 
serve its  original  plan  so  nearly  undisturbed. 

Entering  the  nave  from  the  westward,  this   grand   apartment   is    found   to 


NORWICH. 


259 


extend  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  to  the  intersection  of  the  transepts 
comprises  fourteen  bays,  three  of  them  being  included  in  the  choir.  'I  he  tri- 
forium  is  almost  as  lofty  as  the  nave-arches,  and  the  solidity  of  these,  sur- 
mounted by  the  grandeur  of  the  upper  arcade,  gives  a  magnificent  aspect  to 
the  nave.  Above  is  the 
fine  vaulted  roof,  the  elab- 
orately carved  bosses  giv- 
ing a  series  of  scenes  from 
sacred  history  extending 
from  the  Creation  to  the 
Last  Judgment.  Small 
chapels  were  originally 
erected  against  the  organ- 
screen,  one  of  them  being 
dedicated  to  the  young 
St.  William,  a  Norfolk 
saint  who  in  the  twelfth 
century  was  tortured  and 
crucified  by  some  Jews. 
His  body,  clandestinely 
buried  in  a  wood,  was 
found,  miracles  were 
wrought,  and  it  was  trans- 
lated to  the  cathedral. 
The  Jews  of  Norwich 
were  then  attacked  and 
plundered,  and  these  out- 
rages were  renewed  a  cen- 

o 

tu  ry  later.  But  times  have 
fortunately  changed  since 
then.  The  choir  extends 
to  the  eastern  apse,  and  at  the  back  of  the  altar  recent  alterations  have  exposed 
an  interesting  relic  in  a  fragment  of  the  original  bishop's  throne,  an  elevated 
chair  of  stone  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  apse  and  looking  westward.  On 
either  side  are  apsidal  chapels.  Among  the  monuments  is  that  to  Sir  \Yilliam 
Boleyn,  grandfather  to  the  unfortunate  Anne  Boleyn.  He  lived  at  Blickling, 
about  thirteen  miles  from  Norwich,  where  Anne  is  believed  to  have  been  born. 
Several  bishops  also  lie  in  the  cathedral,  and  among  the  later  tombs  is  that  of 
Dr.  Moore,  who  died  in  1779,  and  whose  periwigged  head  is  in  grotesque  juxta- 


NORWICH    CATHEDRAL — THE   CHOIR,    LOOKING    EAST. 


260 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A.\/>    DESCRIPTIVE. 


position  with  a  cherub  making  an  ugly  face  and  appearing  to  be  drying  his 
eyes  with  his  shirt.  The 'spire  of  Norwich  Cathedral  rises  two  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  feet. 

Norwich  Castle  is  a  massive  block  of  masonry  crowning  the  summit  of  a 
mound.  Who  first  built  it  is  unknown,  but  he  is  said  by  popular  tradition  to 
sit  buried  in  his  chair  and  full  armed  deep  down  in  the  centre  of  this  mound, 
and  "  ready  for  all  contingencies."  But  the  castle  has  degenerated  into  a  jail, 
and  the  great  square  tower  or  keep,  ninety-five  feet  square  and  seventy  feet 
high,  is  the  only  part  of  the  original  structure  remaining.  It  has  been  refaced 


NORWICH    MARKET-PLACE. 


with  new  stone,  and  the  interior  has  also  been  completely  changed.  The  moat 
is  planted  with  trees,  and  on  the  outside  slope  the  cattle-market  is  held  every 
Saturday.  Norwich  has  some  historical  structures.  In  its  grammar-school 
Nelson  was  a  scholar,  and  his  statue  stands  on  the  green.  On  the  edge  of 
Tombland  stands  the  house  of  Sir  John  Falstaff,  a  brave  soldier  and  friend  of 
literature,  whose  memory  is  greatly  prized  in  Norfolk,  but  whose  name  has 
been  forgotten  by  many  in  the  shadow  of  Shakespeare's  "  Fat  Jack."  The 
chief  centre  of  the  town,  however,  is  the  market-place,  on  the  slope  of  a  hill, 
where  modernized  buildings  have  replaced  some  of  the  more  antique  struc- 
tures. Here  stands  the  ancient  Guildhall,  which  in  1413  replaced  the  old  Tol- 
booth  where  the  market-dues  were  paid.  Within  is  the  sword  surrendered  to 
Nelson  by  Admiral  Winthuysc-n  at  the  battle  of  St.  Vincent,  and  by  him  pre- 
sented to  the  chief  city  of  his  native  county  of  Norfolk.  In  the  olden  time 


BURGHLEY  HOUSE. 


26l 


the  glory  of  Norwich  was  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  palace,  but  it  was  destroyed 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  by  the  then  duke  in  a  fit  of  anger 
because  the  mayor  would  not  permit  his  troop  of  players  to  march  through 
the  town  with  trumpets  blowing.  Not  a  brick  of  it  now  stands,  the  site  being 
covered  with  small  houses.  Norwich  was  formerly  famous  for  its  trade  in 
woollens,  the  Dutch  introducing  them  at  the  neighboring  village  of  Worsted, 
whence  the  name.  Now,  the  coal-mines  have  aided  the  spinning-jenny,  but 
the  worsteds  are  overshadowed  by  other  Norwich  manufactures.  Colman's 
mustard-factories  cover  ten  acres,  and  Barnard's  ornamental  iron-work  from 
Norwich  is  world-renowned.  Norwich  also  contains  an  enormous  brewery, 
but  in  this  the  city  is  not  singular,  for  what  is  a  Briton  without  his  beer? 

BURGHLEY    HOUSE. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Welland  River,  a  short  distance  above  Crowland,  is 
StamWd,   in    Lincolnshire,    near    which   is   located   the    well-known    Burghley 


BURGH  LEY    HOUSE. 


House,  the  home  of  Lord  Treasurer  Cecil,  whose  history  is  referred  to 
in  the  notice  of  Hatfield  House.  This  mansion,  which  is  a  short  distance 
south  of  Stamford,  is  now  the  seat  of  the  Marquis  of  Exeter,  William  Allayne 
Cecil.  It  is  said  to  have  furnished  the  text  for  Lord  Bacon's  "Essay  on  Build- 
ing," it  having  been  completed  but  a  short  time  previously.  The  plans  of  this 
famous  house  are  still  preserved  in  London.  It  is  a  parallelogram  built  around 
an  open  court,  with  a  lofty  square  tower  projecting  from  the  western  front,  and 


262  KXC.LAND,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 

having  octangular  turrets  at  the  angles.  The  northern  (which  is  the  main)  front 
is  divided  into  three  compartments,  and  bears  on  the  parapet  1587  as  the  date 
when  the  house  was  finished.  Within  the  building  a  long  corridor,  command- 
ing a  view  of  the  inner  court,  leads  to  a  stone  staircase  which  rises  to  the  top 
of  the  structure  and  is  peculiarly  decorated.  There  is  a  fine  chapel,  and  in  an 
adjoining  room  was  Giordano's  renowned  painting  of  "  Seneca  Dying  in  the 
Bath,"  which  was  eulogized  in  Prior's  poems,  he  having  seen  it  there,  though 
it  is  now  removed.  One  of  the  most  interesting  pictures  in  the  gallery  is  that 
of  Henry  Cecil,  the  tenth  Earl  and  the  first  Marquis  of  Exeter,  his  wife,  and 
daughter.  Tennyson  has  woven  the  romance  of  their  marriage  into  a  poem. 
Cecil,  before  coming  into  his  title,  was  living  in  seclusion  in  Shropshire,  and 
fell  in  love  with  a  farmer's  daughter.  He  married  her  under  an  assumed 
name,  and  only  disclosed  his  true  rank  when,  succeeding  to  his  uncle's  title 
and  estates,  he  became  the  lord  of  Burghley  and  took  her  home  to  Burghley 
House.  Tennyson  tells  how  she  received  the  disclosure: 

"Thus  her  heart  rejoices  greatly,  till  a  gateway  she  discerns 
With  armorial  bearings  stately,  and  beneath  the  gate  she  turns; 
Sees  a  mansion  more  majestic  than  all  those  she  saw  before : 
Many  a  gallant  gay  domestic  bows  before  him  at  the  door. 
And  they  speak  in  gentle  murmur,  when  they  answer  to  his  call, 
While  he  treads  with  footstep  firmer,  leading  on  from  hall  to  hall. 
And,  while  now  she  wonders  blindly,  nor  the  meaning  can  divine, 
Proudly  turns  he  round  and  kindly,  'All  of  this  is  mine  and  thine.' 
Here  he  lives  in  state  and  bounty,  Lord  of  Burghley,  fair  and  free, 
Not  a  lord  in  all  the  county  is  so  great  a  lord  as  he. 
All  at  once  the  color  flushes  her  sweet  face  from  brow  to  chin  : 
As  it  were  with  shame  she   blushes,   and  her  spirit  changed  within. 
Then  her  countenance  all  over  pale  again  as  death  did  prove; 
lint  he  clasp'd  her  like  a  lover,  and   he  cheer' d  her  soul  with  love." 

The  building  has  many  attractive  apartments,  including  a  ball-room  and 
Queen  Elizabeth's  chamber,  but  it  is  doubted  whether  the  maiden  queen  ever 
visited  it,  though  she  did  stay  at  Burghley's  house  in  Stamford,  and  here  made 
the  celebrated  speech  to  her  old  minister  in  which  she  said  that  his  head  and 
her  purse  could  do  anything.  Burghley's  eldest  son,  Thomas,  was  created 
Earl  of  Exeter,  and  his  descendants  are  now  in  possession  of  the  house. 
His  younger  son,  Robert,  as  previously  related,  was  made  Earl  of  Salisbury,  and 
his  descendants  hold  Hatheld  House.  The  apartments  at  Burghley  are  filled 
with  historical  portraits.  The  grand  staircase  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
house  is  finer  than  the  other,  but  is  not  so  full  of  character.  The  gardens  of 
Burghley  were  planned  by  "  Capability  Brown,"  the  same  who  laid  out  Kew. 


LINCOLN.  263 


He  imperiously  overruled  King  George  III.  in  the  gardening  at  Kew,  and  when 
he  died  the  king  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  with  a  sigh  of  relief  to  the  under- 
gardener,  "  Brown  is  dead ;  now  you  and  I  can  do  what  we  please  here." 
Within  St.  Martin's  Church  in  Stamford  is  the  canopied  tomb  of  the  lord  treas- 
urer, constructed  of  alabaster,  and  bearing  his  effigy  clad  in  armor,  with  the 
crimson  robes  of  the  Garter;  it  is  surrounded  with  the  tombs  of  his  descend- 
ants. It  was  into  Stamford  that  Nicholas  Nickleby  rode  through  the  snow- 
storm, and  the  coach  stopped  at  the  George  Inn,  which  was  a  popular  hostel- 
rie  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.,  as  it  still  remains. 

North  of  Stamford,  on  the  river  Witham,  is  the  interesting  town  of  Grant- 
ham,  containing  the  quaint  grammar-school  founded  by  Bishop  Fox  of  Win- 
chester in  1528  where  Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  educated.  It  is  recorded  by 
tradition  that  his  career  here  was  not  very  brilliant  as  a  scholar — a  circumstance 
which  may  be  told,  if  for  nothing  else,  at  least  for  the  encouragement  of  some 
of  the  school-boys  of  a  later  generation. 

LINCOLN. 

Continuing  northward  down  the  river  Writham,  we  come  to  a  point  where  the 
stream  has  carved  in  a  limestone-capped  plateau  a  magnificent  valley,  which, 
changing  its  course  to  the  eastward,  ultimately  broadens  on  its  route  to  the 
sea  into  a  wide  tract  of  fenland.  Here,  upon  a  grand  site  overlooking  the 
marshes  and  the  valley,  stands  the  city  of  Lincoln,  with  its  cathedral  crowning 
the  top  of  the  hill,  while  the  town-buildings  spread  down  the  slope  to  the  river- 
bank  at  Brayford  Pool,  from  which  the  Witham  is  navigable  down  to  Boston, 
near  the  coast,  and  ultimately  discharges  into  the  Wash.  The  Pool  is  crowded 
with  vessels  and  bordered  by  warehouses,  and  it  receives  the  ancient  Fosse 
I  )yke  Canal,  which  was  dug  by  the  Romans  to  connect  the  Witham  with  the 
more  inland  river  Trent.  This  was  the  Roman  colony  of  Lindum,  from  which 
the  present  name  of  Lincoln  is  derived,  and  the  noble  cathedral  crowns  the 
highest  ground,  known  as  Steep  Hill.  William  the  Conqueror  conferred  upon 
Bishop  Remigius  of  Fecamp  the  see  of  Dorchester,  and  he  founded  in  1075 
this  celebrated  cathedral,  which,  with  its  three  noble  towers  and  two  transepts, 
is  one  of  the  finest  in  England.  Approaching  it  from  the  town,  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill  is  encountered  the  Stonebow,  a  Gothic  gateway  of  the  Tudor  age,  which 
serves  as  the  guild-hall.  The  centre  of  the  western  front  is  the  oldest  part 
of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  and  the  gateway  facing  it,  and  forming  the  chief  entrance 
to  the  Close,  is  the  Exchequer  Gate,  an  impressive  structure  built  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.  The  cathedral  arcade  and  the  lower  parts  of  the  two  western 


264 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  .l.\7>    />/-:.sv  'AY/' 77 /'/•:. 


towers  and  the  western  doorway  were  built  in  the  twelfth  century.  Subse- 
quently an  earthquake  shattered  the  cathedral,  and  in  the  thirteenth  century 
it  was  restored  and  extended  by  Bishop  Hugh  of  Avelon,  not  being-  finished 
until  1315.  The  massive  central  tower  is  supported  on  four  grand  piers  com- 
posed of  twenty-four  shafts,  and  here  is  hung  the  celebrated  bell  of  Lincoln, 


1 


I 


LINCOLN    CATHEDRAL,    FROM    THE    SOUTH-WEST. 

"  Great  Tom,"  which  was  recast  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  weighs  five  and 
a  half  tons.  The  transepts  have  splendid  rose  windows,  retaining  the 
original  stained  glass.  Lincoln's  shrine  was  that  of  St.  Hugh,  and  his  choir  is 
surmounted  by  remarkable  vaulting,  the  eastern  end  of  the  church  being  ex- 
tended into  the  Angel  Choir,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  Decorated  Gothic,  built 
in  1282  to  accommodate  the  enormous  concourse  of  pilgrims  attracted  by  St. 


/J.VCOLN. 


26=; 


Hugh's  shrine,  which  stood  in  this  part 
of  the  building.  In  the  cathedral  is 
the  tomb  of  Katherine  Swynforcl,  wife 
of  John  of  Gaunt.  Adjoining"  the 
south-eastern  transept  are  the  clois- 
ters and  chapter-house.  The  most 
ingenious  piece 
of  work  of  the 


whole  structure  is  the  "stone 
beam,"  a  bridge  with  a  nearly 
flat  arch,  extending  between 
the  two  western  towers  over 
the  nave,  composed  of  tuenty- 


34 


266  i:\GLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


two  stones,  each  eleven  inches  thick,  and  vibrating  sensibly  when  stepped 
upon.  There  is  a  grand  view  from  the  towers  over  the  neighboring  coun- 
try and  far  away  down  the  Witham  towards  the  sea.  The  exterior  of  the 
cathedral  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  architecture  in  the  kingdom, 
its  porches,  side-chapels,  decorated  doorways,  sculptured  capitals,  windows, 
cloisters,  and  towers  admirably  illustrating  every  portion  of  the  history 
of  English  architecture.  Its  .interior  length  is  four  hundred  and  eighty-two 
feet,  the  great  transept  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  the  lesser  transept 
one  hundred  and  seventy  feet.  The  western  towers  are  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  high,  and  the  central  tower  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  while  the 
width  of  the  cathedral's  noble  western  front  is  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  feet.  Upon  the  southern  side  of  the  hill,  just  below  it,  are  the  stately 
ruins  of  the  Bishop's  Palace,  of  which  the  tower  has  recently  been  restored. 
Bishop  Hugh's  ruined  Great  Hall  is  now  overgrown  with  ivy,  but  the  walls 
can  be  climbed  to  disclose  a  glorious  view  of  the  cathedral. 

The  ancient  Ermine  Street  of  the  Romans  enters  Lincoln  through  the  best 
preserved  piece  of  Roman  masonry  in  England,  the  Newport  Gate  of  two 
arches,  where  on  either  hand  may  be  seen  fragments  of  the  old  wall.  Near 
the  south-east  corner  of  this  originally  walled  area  William  the  Conqueror  built 
Lincoln  Castle,  with  its  gate  facing  the  cathedral.  The  ruins  are  well  preserved, 
and  parts  of  the  site  are  now  occupied  by  the  jail  and  court-house.  Within 
this  old  castle  King  Stephen  besieged  the  empress  Maud,  but  though  he  cap- 
tured it  she  escaped.  Her  partisans  recaptured  the  place,  and  Stephen  in  the 
second  siege  was  made  a  prisoner.  It  suffered  many  sieges  in  the  troubled 
times  afterwards.  In  the  Civil  War  the  townspeople  supported  the  king,  but 
being  attacked  they  retreated  to  the  castle  and  cathedral,  which  were  stormed 
and  taken  by  the.  Parliamentary  army.  Afterwards  the  castle  was  dismantled. 
One  of  the  interesting  remains  in  Lincoln  is  the  "Jew's  House,"  the  home  in 
the  Hebrew  quarter  of  a  Jewess  who  was  hanged  for  clipping  coin  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.  But  the  noble  cathedral  is  the  crowning  glory  of  this  interesting 
old  city,  the  massive  structure,  with  its  three  surmounting  towers  standing  on 
high,  being  visible  for  many  miles  across  the  country  around. 

NOTTINGHAM. 

We  will  now  cross  over  the  border  from  Lincoln  into  Nottinghamshire,  and, 
seeking  the  valley  of  the  Trent,  find  upon  the  steep  brow  of  a  cliff  by  the 
river  the  ancient  castle  of  Nottingham,  which  is  now  surrounded  by  the  busy 
machinery  of  the  hosiery-weavers.  When  it  was  founded  no  one  accurately 
knows,  but  it  is  believed  to  antedate  the  Roman  occupation  of  the  island.  As 


NOTTINGHAM. 


267 


long  ago  as  the  tenth  century  there  was  a  bridge  across  the  Trent  at  Snoden- 
gahame — meaning  the  "  dwelling  among  the  rocks  " — as  it  was  then  called,  and 
afterwards  the  town  suffered  from  the  Danes.  It  is  also  suffered  during  the 
troubled  reign  of  King  Stephen.  The  castle  was  built  by  one  of  the  Peverils 
soon  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  was  frequently  the  abode  of  kings. 
It  was  here  that  Roger  Mortimer  was  seized  prior  to  being  tried  and  hanged 
in  London.  King  David  of  Scotland  and  Owen  Glendower  of  Wales  were 
held  prisoners  in  Nottingham  Castle,  and  from  it  Richard  III.  advanced  to 
meet  his  fate  on  Bosworth  Field,  while  Charles  I.  set  up  his  standard  and  gath- 
ered his  army  at  Not- 
tingham at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Civil  Wars, 
the  blowing  down  of 
the  standard  by  a  gale 
on  Castle  Hill  being 
taken  as  ominous  of 
the  unfortunate  ter- 
mination of  the  con- 
flict. The  old  castle, 
which  has  fallen  into 
ruins,  subsequently 
passed  into  posses- 
sion of  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  who  clear- 
ed away  almost  the 
whole  of  the  ancient 
structure  and  built  a 
house  upon  the  site. 
The  city  was  noted  for  its  manufactures  as  early  as  the  reign  of  King  John, 
and  the  hand-knitting  of  stockings  was  introduced  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Previously  to  that  time  hosiery  had  been  cut  out  of  cloth,  with  the  seams  sewed 
up  the  same  as  outer  clothing.  As  early  as  1589  a  machine  for  weaving  was 
invented,  but  failing  to  reap  a  profit  from  it,  the  inventor,  a  clergyman,  took  it 
to  Paris,  where  he  afterwards  died  broken-hearted.  Ultimately,  his  appren- 
tices brought  the  machines  back  to  Nottingham,  improved  them,  and  pros- 
pered. Many  improvements  followed,  jeclediah  Strutt  produced  the  "  Derby 
ribbed  hose;"  then  the  warp-loom  was  invented  in  the  last  century,  and  the 
bobbin-traverse  net  in  1809.  The  knitting-machines  have  been  steadily  im- 
proved, and  now  hosiery-making  is  carried  on  in  extensive  factories  that 


NOTTINOHAM    CASTLE. 


268 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


give  an  individuality  to  the  town.  The  rapidity  with  which  stockings  are 
reeled  off  the  machines  is  astonishing.  An  ordinary  stocking  is  made  in  four 
pieces,  which  are  afterwards  sewed  or  knitted  together  by  another  machine. 
Some  of  the  looms,  however,  knit  the  legs  in  one  piece,  and  may  be  seen 
working  off  almost  endless  woollen  tubes,  which  are  afterwards  divided  into 
convenient  lengths.  Fancy  hosiery  is  knitted  according  to  patterns,  the  set- 
ting up  of  which  requires  great  skill.  Vast  amounts  of  lace  are  woven,  and  in 
the  factories  female  labor  preponderates.  The  upper  town  of  Nottingham, 
clustering  around  the  castle  on  the  river-crag,  has  a  picturesque  aspect  from 
the  valley  below.  Among  the  features  of  the  lower  town  is  the  market-place, 
a  triangular  area  of  slightly  over  four  acres,  where  the  market  is  held  every 
Saturday,  and  where  once  a  year  is  also  held  that  great  event  of  Nottingham, 
the  Michaelmas  goose  fair.  Here  also  disport  themselves  at  election-times 
the  rougher  element,  who,  from  their  propensity  to  bleat  when  expressing  dis- 
approbation, are  known  as  the  "  Nottingham  lambs,"  and  who  claim  to  be  lineal 
descendants  irom  that  hero  of  the  neighboring  Sherwood  Forest,  Robin  Hood. 

SOUTHWELL. 

We  will    now  go  down    the   valley  of  the    Trent   below  Nottingham,   and, 
mounting  the  gentle  hills  that  border  Sherwood  Forest,  come  to  the  Roman 


SOITHWKLL    MINMKK    AND    RUINS    OF   THE    ARCHBISHOPS    PALACE. 


SOUTHUT-LL. 


269 


station,   Ad  Pontem,  of  which  the  Venerable   Bede  was   the  historian.     Here 
Paulinas  was  baptized,  and  it  was  early  made  the  site  of   an   episcopal   see. 
The  name  was  Sudwell  at  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  then  it  became  South- 
well, and  the  noted  minster  was  one  of  the  favorite  residences  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York.     It  is  a  quiet,  old-fashioned  place,  with  plenty  of  comfortable 
residences,  and  in  a  large  church- 
yard on  ground  sloping  away  from 
the  main  street,  with  the  ruins  of 
the  archbishop's  palace  near  by,  is 
Southwell  Minster.  There  are  few 
finer  examples  of  a  Norman  build- 
ing remaining  in  England,  the  three 
towers,  nave,  transepts,  and  chap- 
ter-house forming  a  majestic  group. 
An    enormous     western     window 
has  been   inserted  by  later  archi- 
tects,  rather   to   the   detriment  of 
the    gable,    and    this    produces    a 
singular   effect.      The    interior   of 
the   minster   is   magnificent.     The 
Norman  nave  is  of  eight  bays  with 
semicircular  arches,  surmounted  by 
a  triforium  of  rows  of  arches  almost 
equal   to   those  below,  and   rising 
from  piers  with  clustered  side-col- 
umns.    It  is  nearly  three-fourths 
the  height  of  the  lower  stage,  and 
this  produces  a  grand  effect.    The 
Mat  roof  is  modern,  it  and  the  bells 
having    been    replaced    after    the 
church    was    burned    in    the    last 
century.     The  ruins  of  the  archi- 
episcopal  palace,  erected  six  hundred  years  ago,  have  been,  availed  of  in  one 
portion    for    a    dwelling-house.      Wolsey    built    part   of   it,    and    beneath    the 
battlementecl   wall   enclosing  the  garden    there  was   not  long  ago  found  the 
skeleton  of  a  soldier  in  armor,  a  relic  of  the  Civil  Wars.     The  name  of  the 
town  is  derived  from  its  wells.     The  South  Weil   is  a  short  distance  outside 
the  limits  in   a  little  park.     The   Holy  Well,  which  was  inside  the  minster,  is 
now  covered  up.      Lady  Well  was  just  outside   the  church-walls,  but  a  clergy- 


mi:    NAVE,    SOUTHWELL   MINSTER 


270  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND 


man  fell  into  it  one  dark  night  and  was  drowned,  and  it  too  has  been  closed.  St. 
Catherine's  Well  was  surmounted  by  a  chapel,  and  is  in  repute  as  a  cure  for 
rheumatism.  The  ancient  inn  of  the  Saracen's  Head  in  Southwell,  not  far  from 
the  minster  on  the  main  street,  witnessed  the  closing  scene  of  the  Civil  War. 
After  the  battle  of  Naseby  the  Scotch  had  reached  Southwell,  and  Montre- 
ville,  an  agent  of  Cardinal  Mazarin,  came  there  to  negotiate  on  behalf  of 
King  Charles  in  1646.  The  Scotch  commissioners  had  rooms  in  the  archi- 
episcopal  palace,  and  Montreville  lodged  at  the  Saracen's  Head.  After  the 
negotiations  had  proceeded  for  some  time,  the  king  in  disguise  quitted  Oxford 
in  April,  and  after  a  devious  journey  by  way  of  Newark  appeared  at  Montre- 
ville's  lodgings  on  May  6th.  On  the  south  side  of  the  inn  was  an  apartment 
divided  into  a  dining-room  and  bedroom,  which  the  king  occupied,  and  in  the 
afternoon,  after  dining  with  the  Scotch  commissioners,  he  placed  himself  in 
their  hands,  and  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  their  head-quarters.  The  canny  Scots 
before  leaving  stripped  the  lead  from  the  roof  of  the  palace,  and  it  afterwards 
fell  into  ruin,  so  that  Cromwell,  who  arrived  subsequently,  found  it  uninhabitable, 
and  then  occupied  the  king's  room  at  the  Saracen's  Head,  his  horses  being 
stabled  in  Southwell  Minster.  Southwell  since  has  had  an  uneventful  history. 

THE    DUKERIF.S. 

Nor  far  away  is  the  well-known  Sherwood  Forest,  wherein  in  the:  olden  time 
lived  the  famous  forester  and  bandit  Robin  Hood.  Roaming  among  its  spread- 
ing oaks  with  his  robber  band,  he  was  not  infrequently  a  visitor  to  the  border- 
in^  towns,  sometimes  for  pleasure,  but  oftener  for  "business."  Who  Robin 

& 

was,  or  exactly  when  he  lived,  no  one  seems  to  know.  He  is  associated  alike 
with  the  unsettled  times  of  Kings  John  and  Richard,  with  Henry  V.  and  with 
Jack  Cade,  but  so  much  mystery  surrounds  all  reports  of  him  that  some  do  not 
hesitate  to  declare  Robin  Hood  a  myth.  But  whoever  he  was,  his  memory  and 
exploits  live  in  many  a  ballad  sung  along  the  banks  of  the  Trent  and  in  the  towns 
and  villages  of  Sherwood  Forest.  His  abiding-place  is  now  divided  up  into 
magnificent  estates,  the  most  famous  of  them  being  known  as  "The  Dukeries." 
One  of  them,  near  Ollerton,  is  Thoresby  Hall,  the  splendid  home  of  the  Earl 
of  Manvers,  a  park  that  is  ten  miles  in  circumference.  North  of  this  is  the 
stately  seat  of  the  L)uke  of  Newcastle — Clumber  Park — charmingly  situated 
between  Ollerton  and  Worksop.  From  the  entrance-lodge  a  carriage-drive 
of  over  a  mile  through  the  well-wooded  grounds  leads  up  to  the  elegant  yet 
homelike  mansion.  It  is  of  modern  construction,  having  been  built  in  1770 
and  received  important  additions  since.  Before  that  time  the  park  was  a 
tract  of  wild  woodland,  but  the  then  Duke  of  Newcastle  improved  it,  and  con- 


THE  DUR'l.RIl-'.S. 


CLUMBER    HALL. 


structed  an  extensive  lake,  covering  ninety  acres,  at  a  cost  of  $35,000.  It  was 
originally  intended  for  a  shooting-box,  but  this  was  elaborately  extended.  In 
the  centre  of  the  west  front  is 
a  colonnade,  and  between  the 
mansion  and  the  lake  are  fine 
gardens  ornamented  by  a 
large  fountain.  The  owner 
of  Clumber  is  the  lineal  rep- 
resentative of  the  family  of 
Pelham-Clinton — which  first 
appeared  prominently  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  I. — and  is 
Henry  Pelham  Alexander 
Pelham-Clinton,  sixth  Duke 
of  Newcastle.  Clumber  is 
rich  in  ornaments,  among  them  being  four  ancient  Roman  altars,  but  the  most 
striking  feature  is  the  full-rigged  ship  which  with  a  consort  rests  upon  the 
placid  bosom  of  the  lake. 

Adjoining  Clumber  Park  is  the  most  celebrated  of  "  The  Dukeries,"  Welbeck 
Abbey,  which  is  one  of  the  remarkable  estates  of  England,  a  place  peculiar  to 
itself.  The  mansion  is  about  four  miles  from  Worksop,  and  the  surrounding 
park  contains  a  grand  display  of  fine  old  trees,  beneath  which  roam  extensive 
herds  of  deer.  Welbeck  Abbey  of  White  Canons  was  founded  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  II.,  and  dedicated  to  St.  James.  After  the  dissolution  it  was  granted 
to  Richard  Whalley,  and  subsequently  passed  into  possession  of  Sir  Charles 
Cavendish,  a  son  of  the  famous  Bess  of  Hardwicke,  whose  grandson  converted 
the  abbey  into  an  elaborate  mansion,  leaving  little  of  the  original  religious 
building  standing.  The  present  house  was  constructed  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  its  old  riding-house  being  completed  in  1623,  and  William  Cavendish, 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  who  built  it,  was  noted  as  the  most  accomplished  horse- 
man of  his  time.  For  several  generations  Welbeck  remained  in  possession 
of  the  Dukes  of  Newcastle,  until  in  the  last  century  an  only  daughter  and 
the  heiress  of  the  abbey  married  William  Bentinck,  the  Duke  of  Portland, 
thus  carrying  the  estate  over  to  that  family,  which  now  possesses  it.  The  found 
er  of  this  ducal  house  came  over  from  Holland  as  a  page  of  honor  with  King 
\\  illiam  III.  The  present  owner,  who  has  just  succeeded  to  the  title,  is  the 
sixth  Duke  of  Portland.  The  chief  feature  of  the  original  Welbeck,  the  old 
riding-house,  remains,  but  is  no  longer  used  for  that  purpose.  It  is  a  grand 
hall,  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  feet  long,  with  a  massive  open-work  tim- 


272 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


her  roof  of  admirable  design.  The  mansion  is  full  of  fine  apartments,  many 
of  them  elaborately  decorated,  but  it  is  not  from  these  that  the  estate  gets  its 
present  fame.  The  late  Duke  of  Portland,  who  was  unmarried,  was  an  eccen- 
tric man,  and  he  developed  a  talent  for  burrowing  underground  that  made  his 
house  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  England  and  consumed  enormous  sums 
of  money.  The  libraries  of  Welbeck,  five  superb  rooms  opening  into  each 
other,  a  spacious  hall  adjoining,  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  feet  long,  the  sta- 
bles, large  gardens,  hot-houses,  lodges,  and  other  apartments,  are  all  under- 
ground. °  They  have  glass  roofs  of  magnificent  design.  They  are  approached 
from  and  connected  with  the  rest  of  the  mansion  by  subterranean  passages, 
and,  being  lofty  rooms,  the  cost  of  this  th-ep  digging  and  of  the  necessary 


m 
WHP * '  ^IJ^jil^  ™ 


f          ' 


WKLBECK    ABBEY. 


drainage  and  other  adjuncts  may  be  imagined.  The  new  riding-house,  the 
finest  in  existence,  and  also  underground,  but  lighted  by  an  arched  glass  root, 
is  three  hundred  and  seventy-nine  by  one  hundred  and  six  feet,  and  fifty  feet 
high.  It  is  elaborately  ornamented,  and  at  night  is  lighted  by  nearly  eight 
thousand  gas-jets.  N?ear  it  are  the  extensive  hunting-stables,  coach-houses, 
and  that  marked  feature  of  Welbeck,  the  covered  "gallop,"  one  thousand  and 
seventy-two  feet  long,  with  large  "  hanging  rooms"  at  either  end;  these  too 
are  covered  with  glass,  so  as  to  get  their  light  from  the  top.  The  whole  place 
abounds  in  subterranean  apartments  ami  passages,  while  above  ground  are 
extensive  gardens  and  dairies.  In  the  gardens  are  the  peach-wall,  one  thou- 
sand feet  long,  a  similar  range  of  pine-houses,  a  fruit-arcade  of  ornamental  iron 
arches  stretching  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  with  apple  trees  trained  on  one  side 
and  pear  trees  on  the  other,  and  extensive  beds  of  flowers  and  plants.  To 
construct  and  maintain  all  this  curious  magnificence  there  are  workshops  on  a 


.\EIVAKK.  2J3 

grand  scale.  This  eccentric  duke,  who  practically  denied  himself  to  the  world, 
and  for  years  devoted  his  time  to  carrying  on  these  remarkable  works  at  an 
enormous  cost,  employed  over  two  thousand  persons  in  burrowing  out  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  and  making  these  grand  yet  strange  apartments.  When  finished 
he  alone  could  enjoy  them,  for  Welbeck  was  for  a  long  time  a  sealed  book  to 
the  outer  world.  But  the  eccentric  duke  died,  as  all  men  must,  and  his  suc- 
cessor opened  Welbeck  to  view  and  to  the  astonishment  of  all  who  saw  it.  A 
few  months  ago  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  a  noble  company  visited  the  strange 
yet  magnificent  structure,  and  then  for  the  first  time  the  amazed  assemblage 
explored  this  underground  palace  in  Sherwood  Forest,  and  when  their  won- 
der was  satisfied  they  turned  on  the  myriads  of  gas-jets,  and  amid  a  blaze 
of  artificial  light  indulged  in  a  ball — an  unwonted  scene  for  the  weird  old  abbey 
of  the  eccentric  and  solitary  duke.  Like  the  fairies  and  mermaids  of  old  in 
their  underground  palaces,  the  prince  and  his  friends  at  Welbeck  right  merrily 

"  Held  their  courtly  revels  down,  down  below." 

Also  in  this  neighborhood  is  Newstead  Abbey,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Byrons. 
It  is  about  eleven  miles  from  Nottingham,  and  was  founded  by  the  Augustin- 
ians  in  the  time  of  Henry  II.  In  1540  it  came  into  possession  of  Sir  John 
Byron,  and  a  century  later  was  held  for  King  Charles.  The  poet  Byron's 
bedroom  remains  almost  as  he  left  it,  and  on  the  lawn  is  the  monument  to  his 
favorite  dog,  "  Boatswain."  The  abbey  also  contains  several  relics  of  Living- 
stone, the  African  explorer.  Near  it  is  Robin  Hood's  Cave,  and  the  neighbor- 
hood is  full  of  remains  of  the  famous  chieftain,  such  as  his  Hill  and  his  Chair, 
and  Fountain  Dale  where  Robin  encountered  Friar  Tuck. 

NEWARK. 

Descending  again  to  the  banks  of  the  Trent,  we  come  to  the  causeway 
which  carries  over  the  flat  meadows  the  Great  North  Road,  the  Roman  mil- 
itary route  to  the  north  of  England,  which  made  it  necessary  to  build  a  castle 
to  hold  the  keys  to  its  passage  across  the  river.  We  are  told  that  Egbert 
built  the  earliest  fortress  here,  but  the  Danes  destroyed  it.  Leofric,  Earl  of 
Mercia,  rebuilt  it,  and  gave  the  castle  the  name  of  the  "  New  Work."  But  it 
too  fell  into  decay,  and  in  1 123  the  present  castle  was  built,  which  though  much 
altered  and  afterwards  sadly  ruined,  has  come  down  to  the  present  time.  It 
was  here  that,  after  his  army  was  swamped  in  the  \Vash,  King  John  died,  some 
say  by  poison,  but  the  prosaic  historian  attributes  the  sad  result  to  over-indul- 
gence in  "unripe  peaches  and  new  beer."  In  the  Civil  War  it  was  a  royal 

stronghold  and  sent  King  Charles  large  numbers  of  recruits.     Then  it  was 
aa 


2/4 


KXGLAXD,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


besieged  by  Cromwell,  but  stoutly  resisted,  and  Prince  Rupert  by  some  bril- 
liant manoeuvres  relieved  it.  Finally,  the  king  sought  refuge  within  its  walls 
after  the  defeat  at  Naseby,  and  here  he  was  besieged  by  the  Scotch  until  his 
voluntary  surrender  to  them  at  Southwell,  when  two  days  afterwards,  by  his 
order,  Newark  capitulated  to  his  captors.  The  Parliamentary  forces  afterwards 
dismantled  the  castle,  and  it  fell  into  decay,  but  it  has.  recently  been  restored  as 


FRONT    OF    NEWARK    CASTLE. 


well  as  possible,  and  the  site  converted  into  a  public  garden.  Within  the  town 
of  Newark  are  several  objects  of  interest.  At  the  Saracen's  Head  Inn,  which 
has  existed  from  the  time  of  Kclward  III.,  Sir  Walter  Scott  tells  us  that  Jeanie 
Deans  slept  on  her  journey  from  Midlothian  to  London.  The  most  striking 
part  of  the  town  is  the  market-square,  which  is  very  large,  and  is  surrounded 
by  old  and  interesting  houses,  several  of  them  projecting  completely  over  the 
footwalks,  and  having  the  front  walls  supported  upon  columns— a  most  pictur- 
esque arrangement.  One  of  these  old  house's  has  windows  in  continuous  rows 
in  the  upper  stories,  having  between  them  wooden  beams  and  figures  moulded 
in  plaster.  Through  the  openings  between  these  old  houses  can  be  seen  the 
church,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  parish  churches  in  this  district,  so  celebrated  for 


275 


the  magnificence  of  its  religious  houses.  Surmounting  its  Early  English  tower  is 
a  spire  of  later  date.  The  plan  is  cruciform,  but  with  very  short  transepts,  not 
extending  beyond  the  aisles,  which  are  wide  and  stretch  the  entire  length  of 

the  church.    There 
is  a   fine   roof    of 
carved    oak,    and 
some  of  the  stain- 
ed glass  and  inte- 
rior  paintings  are 
highly  prized.       It 
was     at      Newark 
that  Thomas  Mag- 
nus lived  and  founded  the  grammar-school  at  which 
the  antiquarian  Dr.  Stukeley  was  educated,  and  after- 
wards  the   famous   Warburton,   who 
became  Bishop  of  Gloucester. 
In    Newark,   about    three   hun- 
dred years  ago,  there  was  a 
tavern    called    the    "  Talbot 
Arms,"   named    in   honor  of 
the      Earl     of     Shrewsbury, 
whose    countess    was    Mary, 
daughter  of  the  famous  Bess 
of  Hardwicke  by  her  second 
husband,  Sir  William  Caven- 
dish.      Between     the    Talbots 
and     the     neighboring    family 
of  Stanhopes  at  Shelford  there 
NEWARK  CASTLE  AND  DUNGEON.  \vas  a  feud,  which  resulted  in 

the  Stanhopes  defacing  the  tavern-sign.  This  was  not  taken  notice  of  by  the 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  but  the  quarrel  was  assumed  by  the  imperious  countess 
and  her  brother,  Sir  Charles  Cavendish.  They  despatched  a  messenger  to  Sir 
Thomas  Stanhope,  accusing  him  and  his  son  of  the  insult,  and  declaring  him  a 
"  reprobate  and  his  son  John  a  rascal."  Then  a  few  days  later  they  sent  a 
formal  defiance:  the  Stanhopes  avoided  a  duel  as  long  as  possible  until  they 
began  to  be  posted  as  cowards,  and  then,  having  gone  to  London,  whither 
Cavendish  followed  them,  a  duel  was  arranged  with  the  younger  Stanhope 
at  Lambeth  Bridge.  They  met  after  several  delays,  when  it  was  found  that 
Stanhope  had  his  doublet  so  thickly  quilted  as  to  be  almost  impenetrable  to  a 


276 


ENGLAND,  1'ICTl'RESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


sword-thrust.  Then  there  was  a  new  dis- 
pute, and  it  was  proposed  they  should 
fight  in  their  shirts,  but  this  Stanhope  de- 
clined, pleading  a  cold.  Cavendish  offer- 
ed to  lend  him  a  waistcoat,  but  this  too 
was  declined  ;  then  Cavendish  waived  all 
objections  to  the  doublet  and  proposed  to 
fight  anyhow,  but  the  seconds  interposed, 
and  the  duel  was  put  off.  Stanhope  was 
then  again  posted  as  a  coward,  and  he 
and  his  adherents  were  hustled  in  the 
streets  of  London.  A  few  days  later 
Stanhope  and  his  party  were  attacked  in 
Fleet  Street  by  the  Talbots,  and  one  of 
the  former  faction  mortally  wounded. 
The  feud  went  on  six  years,  when  one 
day,  Cavendish,  riding  near  his  home  in 
Nottinghamshire  with  three  attendants, 
was  attacked  by  Stanhope  and  twenty 

horsemen.     He  fought  bravely,  and  was  badly  wounded,  but  killed  four  and 

wounded  two  others  of  his  opponents, 

when,    reinforcements     appearing,    the 

Stanhope  party  fled,  leaving  six  horses 

and  nearly  all  their  hats  and  weapons 

behind   them.      But  all   feuds   have 


MARKET-SQUARE. 


NKWARK  CHURCH,  LOOKING  FKOM  THE  NORTH. 


end,  and  this  one  ultimately  exhausted  itself,  the  families  within  a  century  being 
united  in  marriage. 


JJL'LI.   AXD   l;l:\-EkLEY. 


277 


HULL    AND    BEYER  LEY. 

Following  the  Trent  clown  to  the  H umber,  and  turning  towards  the  sea, 
we  come  to  the  noted  seaport  of  Hull,  or,  as  it  is  best  known  in  those  parts, 
Kingston-upon-Hull.  While  not  possessing  great  attractions  for  the  ordinary 
tourist,  yet  Hull  ranks  as  the  third  seaport  of  England,  being  second  only  to 
London  and  Liverpool.  It  is  the  great  packet-station  for  the  north  of  Lurope, 
with  steam  lines  leading  to  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Russia,  and 
the  Baltic,  most  of  the  English  trade  with  those  countries  being  centred  at 
Hull.  It  is  a  town  of  extreme  activity,  its  docks  being  all  the  time  crowded 
with  shipping,  and  its  location,  practically  upon  an  island,  with  the  river  Humber 


THE    Hf.MBER    AT    HUl.l.. 


on  the  south,  the  river  Hull  upon  the  east,  and  docks  upon  the  northern  and 
western  sides,  giving  it  every  maritime  convenience.  The  docks,  though  in- 
ferior to  those  of  Liverpool,  are  the  chief  feature  of  the  town.  The  Hull  River 
itself  forms  a  natural  dock  about  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  and  from  this  a  chain 
of  other  docks  leads  through  the  warehouses  and  the  town  to  the  Humber. 
Hull  possesses  the  Trinity  House,  one  of  the  three  ancient  establishments  in 
England — the  others  being  at  London  and  Newcastle— which  were  founded 
first  as  a  religious  fraternity  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  became  afterwards 
establishments  for  the  relief  of  distressed  and  decayed  seamen  and  their 
families.  The  present  Trinity  House  building  was  erected  in  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  chief  ornament  of  Hull  is  the  Wilberforce  Monument,  a  pillar  of 


278 


E. \\;I..\.\D,  ricri.'KESQ(.'E  -i\n  DESCRIPTIVE. 


sandstone  seventy-two  feet  high,  erected  about  a  half  century  ago,  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  statue  of  the  celebrated  philanthropist.  I  Ie  was  born  on  High 
Street  August  24,  1759,  this  being  the  most  important  thoroughfare  in  ancient 

Hull,  but   now  a  narrow  and 


inconvenient    lane     following 


HOUSE    WHERE    \VI  I.IH'.K  FOKCK    WAS    I'.iiKN. 


the  right  bank  of  the  Hull 
River.  Here  were  in  former 
days  the  houses  of  the  great 
Hull  merchants,  and  the  \Vil- 
berforce  1  louse  is  about  half- 
way down  the  street.  It  is  a 
curious  specimen  of  brickwork, 
of  a  style  said  to  have  been 
imported  :rom  Flanders  in  the 
reign  of  William  and  Mary. 
It  is  a  low,  broad  house  with 
a  surmounting  tower  over  the 
doorway.  Hull  has  little  else 

of  interest  in   the  way  of  buildings.      Its   Holy  Trinity  Church,  in   the  market- 
place, is  the  largest  parish  church  in  England,  having  recently  been  thoroughly 

restored,  and    the   Town    Hall, 

built    in    the   Italian    style,  with 

a  clock-tower,  is  its  finest  edi- 
fice of  modern  construction. 
\Ye     have     now    come     into 

Yorkshire,  and  a  few  minutes' 

ride  northward  by  railway  along 

the    valley   of    the    Hull    River 

brings   the  visitor  to   Beverley, 

an  old-fashioned  Yorkshire  town        „'  W  'K?i 

of  considerable  antiquity,  eight 

miles  from  the   seaport.     This 

was    anciently  a   walled    town, 

but-of  the  entrance-gates  only 

one    survives,    the    North   Bar, 

of  the  time  of  Edward  III.     It 
specimen    of   brick 


is    a 


good 


ENTRANCE-GATE,    BEVERLEY. 


architecture,  with  mouldings  and  niches  upon  the  surface  and  battlements  at 
the  top.     This  is  a  favorite  old  town  for  the  retired  merchant  and  tradesman 


SHEl-1-IELD. 


279 


who  wish  to  pass  the  declining  years  of  life  in  quiet,  and  it  contains  many 
ancient  buildings  of  interest.  Several  of  these  are  clustered  around  the  pic- 
turesque market- square,  which  is  an  enclosure  of  about  four  acres,  and  con- 
tains a  quaint  cross,  a  p-=- 
relic  of  the  time  when 
it  was  customary  to 
build  market-crosses. 
These  ancient  crosses, 
which  were  practically 
canopies  erected  over 
a  raised  platform,  were 
generally  used  as  pul- 
pits by  the  preachers 
when  conducting  re- 
ligious services  in  the 
open  air.  Sometimes 
they  were  memorials 
of  the  dead.  We  are 
told  that  there  were 
formerly  five  thousand 
of  these  crosses  of  various  kinds  in  England,  but  most  of  them  were  destroyed 
in  the  Civil  Wars.  At  these  old  crosses  proclamations  used  to  be  read  and 
tolls  collected  from  the  market-people.  The  covered  market-cross  at  Beverley 
was  one  of  the  last  that  was  erected.  The  name  of  this  interesting  town  is 
said  to  be  derived  from  leaver  Lake,  the  site  having  at  one  time  been  sur- 
rounded by  lakes  that  were  formed  by  the  overflowing  of  the  Humber,  in  which 
beavers  lived  in  great  numbers.  The  Beverley  Minster  is  an  attractive  Gothic 
church,  and  from  the  tops  of  its  towers  there  is  an  excellent  view  over  the  rich 
and  almost  level  valley  through  which  the  Hull  River  flows.  Leconfield  Castle, 
in  the  suburbs,  was  an  ancient  residence  of  the  Percys,  of  which  the  moat 
alone  remains. 

SHEFFIELD. 

Let  us  now  ascend  the  estuary  of  the  Humber,  and,  proceeding  up  its  nume- 
rous tributaries,  seek  out  various  places  of  interest  in  the  West  Riding  of  York- 
shire. And  first,  ascending  the  river  Don,  we  come  to  that  great  manufacturing 
centre  of  the  "Black  Country,"  sacred  to  coal  and  iron,  Sheffield.  Murray's 
Guide  tells  us  that  while  Sheffield  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important 
towns  in  Yorkshire,  it  is  "  beyond  all  question  the  blackest,  dirtiest,  and  least 


UKVKRLEY. 


280 


ENGLAND,   riC'ri'RESQUE  AND   DESCK //'T/l'F.. 


respectable."  Horace  Walpole  in  the  last  century  wrote  that  Sheffield  is  "one 
of  the  foulest  towns  in  England  in  the  most  charming  situation."  It  is  a  crowd- 
ed city,  with  narrow  and  badly-arranged  streets,  having  few  handsome  public 
buildings,  but  bristling  with  countless  tall  chimneys  belching  forth  clouds  of 
heavy  smoke  that  hang  like  a  pall  over  the  place.  The  Don  and  its  tributaries 
have  their  beds  defiled,  and  altogether  the  smoky  city  is  in  unpleasant  contrast 


MANOR-HOUSE,    SHEFFIELD. 

with  the  beauty  of  the  surrounding  country.  But,  unfortunately,  an  omelette 
cannot  be  made  without  breaking  eggs,  nor  can  Sheffield  make  cutlery  without 
smoke  and  bad  odors,  all  of  which  have  amazingly  multiplied  within  the  present 
century,  its  population  having  grown  from  forty-five  thousand  in  1801  to  over 
three  hundred  thousand  now.  It  stands  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  Don 
and  Sheaf,  its  name  being  connected  with  the  latter.  Three  smaller  streams 
join  them  within  the  city  and  are  utilized  for  water-power.  The  factories 
spread  over  the  lowlands  of  the  Don  valley,  and  mount  up  its  western  slopes 
towards  the  moorlands  that  stretch  away  to  Derbyshire  ;  it  is  therefore  as  hilly 


SHEFFIELD. 


2Sl 


as  it  is  grimy.  Sheffield  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest  was  the  manor 
of  Hallam,  which  has  passed  through  various  families,  until,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  it  became  by  marriage  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  The 
present  duke  is  lord  of  the  manor  of  Sheffield,  and  derives  a  large  income 
from  his  vast  estates  there.  Sheffield  Castle  once  stood  at  the  confluence  of 
the  two  rivers,  but  all  traces  of  it  have  disappeared.  The  manor-house,  which 
has  been  restored,  dates  from  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  It  is  three  stories  high. 
and  a  turret  staircase  leads  from  floor  to  floor,  and  finally  out  upon  the  flat 
roof. 

We  are  told  that  Sheffield  manufactures  of  metals  began  in  the  clays  of  the 
Romans,  and  also  that  Sheffield-made  arrows  fell  thickly  at  Crecy  and  Agin- 
court.  Richmond  used 
them  with  effect  at  Bos- 
worth  Field,  and  in 
the  sixteenth  century 
we  read  of  Sheffield 
knives  and  whittles. 
Almost  the  only  an- 
cient building  of  any 
note  the  city  has  is 
the  parish  church,  but 
it  is  so  much  patched 
and  altered  that  there 
is  difficulty  in  distin- 
guishing the  newer 
from  the  older  parts. 
The  chief  among  the 
modern  buildings  is 
the  Cutlers'  Hall,  a 
Grecian  structure 
erected  for  the  Cut- 
lers Company  in  1833. 
and  enlarged  a  few  years  ago  by  the  addition  of  a  handsome  apartment.  This 
company,  the  autocrats  of  Sheffield,  was  founded  in  1624  by  act  of  Parliament 
with  two  express  objects — to  keep  a  check  upon  the  number  of  apprentices 
and  to  examine  into  the  quality  of  Sheffield  wares,  all  of  which  were  to  be 
stamped  with  the  warranty  of  their  excellence.  But  recently  the  restrictive 
powers  of  this  company  have  been  swept  away,  and  it  is  now  little  more  than 
a  grantor  of  trade-marks  and  an  excuse  for  an  annual  banquet.  Sheffield  has 


ENTRANCE   TO    THE   Cl'TLERS     HALL. 


282 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


extensive  markets  and  parks,  and  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  is  conspicuous  in  his 
gifts  of  this  character  to  the  city ;  but  overtopping  all  else  are  the  enormous 
works,  which  make  everything  into  which  iron  and  steel  can  be  converted, 
from  armor-plating  and  railway-rails  down  to  the  most  delicate  springs  and 
highly-tempered  cutlery.  Their  products  go  to  every  part  of  the  world,  and 
are  of  enormous  value  and  importance. 

WAKEFIELD. 

Upon   the  Calder,  another  tributary  of  the  Humber,  northward  of  the  Don. 
is  the   town  of  Wakefield,  which,  until  the  recent  great  growth  of  Leeds,  was 

the  head-quarters  of 
the  Yorkshire  cloth- 
ing-trade. It  was  here 
that  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses  the  battle  of 
Wakefield  was  fought 
on  the  closing  day  of 
the  year  1460.  The 
Duke  of  York  wished 
to  remain  at  Wake- 
field  on  the  defensive 
against  Queen  Mar- 
garet's Lancastrian 
army  of  twenty  thou- 
sand men,  for  his  forces 
were  barely  one-fourth 
that  number.  The  Earl 
of  Salisbury,  however, 
prevailed  on  him  to  advance  to  meet  the  queen,  and  he  probably  had  no  idea 
of  the  strength  she  had  to  oppose  him.  The  duke  was  soon  cut  off,  and  was 
among  the  first  to  fall,  his  head  having  afterwards  been  put  on  the  Micklegate 
bar  at  York.  Scenes  of  great  barbarity  followed:  the  Duke  of  York's  son, 
the  Earl  of  Rutland,  was  murdered  with  shocking  cruelty  after  the  battle  on 
Wak'.-tielcl  Bridge.  Young  Rutland's  brother,  afterwards  Edward  IV'.,  erected 
a  chapel  on  the  bridge  on  the  spot  where  he  was  slain,  in  order  that  prayer 
might  be  constantly  said  in  it  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  the  followers  of 
the  White  Rose  who  were  slain  in  the  battle.  It  covers  thirty  by  twenty- four 
feet,  and  has  recently  been  restored  by  a  successor  of  ( Goldsmith's  "  Vicar  of 
Wakefield."  Xear  the  bridge  the  spot  is  pointed  out  where  the  Duke  of  York 


UDGE. 


LEEDS. 


283 


was  killed,  nmv  marked  by  two 
willows.  Tlvre  is  a  fine  old 
three-gabled  house  in  Wake- 
field  which  was  built  about 
the  same  date  as  the  battle 
was  fought,  and  is  now  divided 
into  small  shops.  It  is  a  good 
specimen  of  the  ancient  black- 
and  -  white  timbered  house, 
though  the  carved  work  on 
the  front  has  been  consider- 
ably defaced.  It  stands  in  the 
Kirkgate,  which  runs  down  to 
the  Calder,  and  is  known  lo- 
cally as  the  "  Six  Chimblies." 


WAKEFIKLD. 


LEEDS. 

About  nine  miles  north  of   Wakefield   is   the  great  commercial   capital   of 
Yorkshire  and  centre  of  the  cloth-trade,  Leeds,  built  in  the  valley  of  the  river 

Aire.  Twelve  hun- 
dred years  ago  this 
region,  em  bracing 
the  valleys  of  the  Aire 
and  the  Calder,  was 
the  independent 
kingdom  of  Loidis. 
It  was  soon  overrun 
and  conquered,  how- 
ever, by  the  Anglian 
hosts,  and  ultimately 
the  conquerors  built 
here  the  monastery 
that  in  Bede's  time 
presided 


was    presided    over 
by  the  abbot  Thryd- 
wulf.     This  stood  on 
eighth    century    it    was 


BRIGGATE,   LOOKING  NORTH. 

the    site    of   the    present    parish    church,    and    in    the 

called   "the   monastery  at   Leeta."      It  stood  at  the  crossing  of  two  important 

Roman   roads  in  the   midst  of  a  forest.      This  was   the   beginning  of  the  great 


284 


E. \GLA.\D,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


city,  for  soon  a  hamlet  gathered  around  the  monastery,  though  long  since  the 
woods,  and  indeed  all  green  things,  were  driven  away  from  Leeds.  The  village 
was  laid  waste  by  William  the  Conqueror,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday 
Book  it  was  one  of  one  hundred  and  rifty  manors  held  by  Baron  Ilbert  de  Lacy, 
whose  possessions  stretched  halfway  across  Yorkshire.  He  built  a  castle  at 
Leeds,  which  was  afterwards  a  prison  ot  Richard  II.,  but  has  long  since  dis- 
appeared. In  1530,  Leland  described  Leeds  as  "a  pretty  market-town,  as  large 
as  Bradford,  but  not  so  quick  as  it."  Charles  I.  incorporated  it,  and  the  cloth- 
market  was  then  of  some  importance.  In  the  Civil  War  it  was  taken  by  the 
Royalists,  and  afterwards  retaken  by  Fairfax  for  the  Parliament  in  a  short,  sharp 
struggle,  in  which  a  clergyman  named  Scholfield  distinguished  himself  by  his 
valor,  and  "by  his  triumphant  psalm-singing"  as  work  after  work  was  captured 
from  the  enemy.  Flemish  workmen  brought  cloth-making  into  this  part  of 
Yorkshire  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  two  centuries  ago  the 
cloth-makers  prospered  so  much  that  they  held  a  market  twice  a  week  at  Leeds 
on  a  long,  narrow  bridge  crossing  the  Aire.  They  laid  their  cloth  on  the  battle- 
ments of  the  bridge  and  on  benches  below,  and  the  country  clothiers  could  buy 
for  four  cents  from  the  innkeepers  "  a  pot  of  ale,  a  noggin  of  porridge,  and  a 
trencher  of  boiled  or  roast  beef."  This  substantial  supply  was  known  as  the 
"  brigg  (bridge)-shot,"  and  from  the  bridge  ran  the  street  known  as  the  Brig- 
gate,  which  has  since  developed  into  one  of  the  finest  avenues  of  the  city. 
Leeds  began  to  grow  in  the  last  century,  when  it  became  the  chief  mart  of 

the  woollen  clothiers, 
while  the  worsted-trade 
gathered  about  Bradford. 
These  still  remain  the 
centres  of  the  two  great 
divisions  of  the  woollen 
industry,  which  is  the 
characteristic  business  of 
Yorkshire.  The  factories 
began  then  to  appear  at 
Leeds,  and  in  the  present 
century  the  city  has  made 
astonishing  advances, 
growing  from  fifty-three 
ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH.  thousand  population  in 

1801    until   it  exceeds   three    hundred  thousand   now.      The  great  cloth-mart 
to-day  is  for  miles  a  region  of  tall  chimneys  and  barrack-like  edifices,  within 


BOLTOX  ABBEY. 


which  steadily  roars  machinery  that  represents  some  of  the  most  ingenious 
skill  of  the  human  race.  Within  this  hive  of  busy  industry  there  still  linger 
some  memorials  of  the  past  among  its  hundreds  of  cloth-mills.  Turning  out 
of  the  broad  Briggate  into  the  quiet  street  of  St.  John,  we  come  to  the  church 
built  there  by  the  piety  of  the  wealthy  clothier  John  Harrison,  and  consecrated 
in  1634.  St.  John's  Church,  which  he  built  and  presented  to  the  town  because 
the  older  parish  church  could  scarce  hold  half  the  inhabitants,  consists  of  a 
long  nave  and  chancel,  with  a  south  aisle.  It  is  of  Gothic  architecture,  and 
much  of  the  ancient  woodwork,  including  the  pulpit,  remains.  Arabesques 
moulded  in  white  plaster  fill  the  panels  between  the  main  roof-beams.  This 
interesting  church  has  undergone  little  historical  change  excepting  the  recent 
rebuilding  of  the  tower.  John  Harrison  is  entombed  in  the  church.  The  old 
parish  church  in  Kirkgate  has  been  within  a  few  years  entirely  rebuilt.  The 
other  churches  of  Leeds,  like  this  one,  are  all  modern,  and  it  also  has  an  imposing 
Town  Hall,  opened  by  the  queen  in  1858,  in  which  are  held  the  annual  musical 
festivals,  which  have  attained  much  importance.  A  statue  of  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington stands  in  the  open  square  in  front.  The  two  Cloth  Halls  of  Leeds,  the 
Mixed  Cloth  Hall  and  the  White  Cloth  Hall,  where  the  business  of  selling  was 
at  first  carried  on,  are  now  little  used,  the  trade  being  conducted  directly  between 
the  manufacturer  and  the  clothier.  Some  of  the  mills  are  of  enormous  size,  and 
they  include  every  operation  from  the  raw  material  to  the  finished  fabric.  But, 
with  all  their  ingenious  machinery,  the  cloth-weavers  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
supersede  the  use  of  the  teasel,  by  which  the  loose  fibres  of  wool  are  raised  to 
the  surface  to  form,  when  cut  and  sheared,  the  pile  or  nap.  These  teasels, 
which  are  largely  grown  in  Yorkshire,  are  fastened  into  a  cylinder,  and  at  least 
three  thousand  of  them  will  be  consumed  in  "teasling"  a  piece  of  cloth  forty 
yards  long. 

ROLTON    ARREY. 

North  of  the  valley  of  the  Aire  is  the  valley  of  the  Wharfe  River,  and,  fol- 
lowing that  pleasant  stream  a  short  distance  up,  we  come  to  Rumbald's  Moor 
and  the  water-cure  establishments  of  the  town  of  llkley,  which  is  an  array  ot 
villas  and  terraces  spreading  up  the  hillside  from  the  southern  bank  of  the 
river.  The  neighborhood  is  full  of  attractive  rock-  and  river-scenery.  In  the 
suburbs  is  the  palace  of  Ben  Rhydding,  built  in  the  Scottish  baronial  style, 
with  the  Cow  and  Calf  Rocks  overhanging  the  adjacent  park.  The  Panorama 
Rock  also  commands  a  wide  prospect,  while  Rumbald's  Moor  itself  is  elevated 
over  thirteen  hundred  feet.  A  few  miles  from  llkley  are  the  celebrated  ruins 
of  Bolton  Abbey,  standing  on  a  patch  of  open  ground,  around  which  the 


286 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


Wharfe  curves,  but  with  much  woods  clustering 
near  the  ruins  and  on  the  river-bank.  Bolton 
stands  in  a  deep  valley,  and  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river  rises  the  steep  rock  of  Simon's  Seat, 
sixteen  hundred  feet  high.  The  architecture  of  the 
abbey  is  of  various  styles,  tin:  west  front  coming 
down  to  us  from  the  reign  ot  Henry  VIII.,  while  its 
gateway  is  much  older.  There  is  no  south  aisle  to 
the  abbey,  and  at  present  the  nave  and  north  aisle 
are  roofed  in  and  serve  as  the  parish  church.  The 
east  end  of  this  aisle  is  divided  from  the  rest  by  an 
ancient  wooden  screen  so  as  to  form  a  chapel,  and 
beneath  this  is  the  vault  where  the  former  owners 
of  Bolton — the  Claphams  and  Mauleverers — were 
buried.  Some  years  ago,  when  the  floor  was  being 
repaired,  their  coffins  were  found  standing  upright,  whereof  the  poet  tells  us: 

••  Through  the  chinks  in  the  fractured  floor 

Look  down  and  see  a  grisly  sight — 

A  vault  where  the  bodies  are  buried  upright  : 

There,  face  by  face  and  hand  by  hand, 

The  Claphams  and    Mauleverers  stand." 


GATEWAY    IN    THE    PRIORY,    BOLTON 
ABBEY. 


i  : 

THE  CHURCHYARD,  BOLTOX  ABBEY. 

The  ruins  of  the  north  transept  are  in  fair  preservation,  and  the  choir  has  a 


BOLTOA'  ABBEY. 


287 


beautiful  arcade,  while  through  the  openings  beneath  there  is  a  charming  view 
of  the  green-bordered  river  and  of  the  hills  beyond.  Bolton  Hall,  which  was 
the  ancient  gateway  of  the  abbey,  is  opposite  its  western  front,  and  is  one  ot 
the  favorite  homes  in  the  shooting  season  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  its 
owner. 

A  pleasant  walk  of  two  miles  along  the  Wharfe  brings  us  to  the  famous 
Strid,  where  the  river  is  hemmed  in  between  ledges  of  rock,  and  the  scene 
of  the  rushing  waters  is  very  fine,  especially  after  a  rain.  Beautiful  paths 
wind  along  the  hillsides  and  through  the  woods,  and  here,  where  the  ruins  of 
Bardon  Tower  rise  high  above  the  valley,  is  a  favorite  resort  of  artists.  At 
the  most  contracted  part  of  the  rocky  river-passage  the  water  rushes  through 


THE   STRID. 


a  narrow  trench  cut  out  for  about  sixty  yards  length.,  within  which  distance  it 
falls  ten  feet.  The  noise  here  is  almost  deafening,  and  at  the  narrowest  part 
the  distance  across  is  barely  five  feet.  It  looks  easy  to  jump  over,  but  horn 
the  peculiar  position  of  the  slippery' rocks  and  the  confusing  noise  of  the  rush- 
ing water  it  is  a  dangerous  leap. 

"  This  striding-place  is  called  '  the  Strid.' 

A  name   which  it  took  of  yore  : 
A  thousand  years  hath  it  borne  that  name. 
And  shall   a  thousand  more." 

It  was  here  that  young  Romilly,  the  "  Boy  of  Egremont."  was  drowned  several 
centuries  ago,  the  story  of  his  death  being  told  by  Wordsworth  in  his  poem  of 
"The  Force  of  Prayer."  He  had  been  ranging  through  Bardon  Wood,  hold- 
ing a  greyhound  in  a  leash,  and  tried  to  leap  across  the  Strid  : 


288 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


"He  sprang  in  glee;  for  what  cared  he 

That  the  river  was  strong  and  the  rocks  were  steep? 
But  the  greyhound  in  the  leash  hung  back, 
And  checked  him  in  his  leap. 

"The  boy  is  in  the  arms  of  Wharfe, 

And  strangled  by  a  merciless  force ; 
For  nevermore  was  young  Roinilly  seen 
Till  he  rose  a  lifeless  corse." 

It  is  said  that  his  disconsolate  mother  built  Bolton  Abbey  to  commemorate  the 
death  of  her  only  son,  and  placed  it  in  one  of  the  most  picturesque  spots  in 
England. 

RIPON    AND    FOUNTAINS. 

Proceeding  still  farther  northward  from  the  charming  vale  of  Wharfe,  we 
come  to  the  valley  of  the  Ure,  which  flows  into  the  Ouse,  a  main  tributary  of 

the  H umber,  and  to  the  famous  cathe- 
dral-town of  Ripon.  This  is  a  place  of 
venerable  antiquity,  for  it  has  been  over 
twelve  centuries  since  a  band  of  Scotch 
monks  came  from  Melrose  to  establish 
a  monastery  on  the  sloping  headland 
above  the  Ure.  A  portion  of  the  an- 
cient church  then  founded  is  incorpo- 
rated in  the  present  Ripon  Minster, 
which  was  built  seven  centuries  ago. 
It  was  burned  and  partly  injured  by 
the  Scotch  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  subsequently  the  central  tower  and 
greater  part  of  the  nave  were  rebuilt. 
It  has  recently  been  entirely  restored. 
The  cathedral  consists  of  a  nave,  with 
aisles  extending  the  full  width  of  the 
western  front,  and  rather  broad  for  its 
length  ;  the  transepts  are  short.  Par- 
allel to  the  choir  on  the  southern  side  is  a  chapter-house.  It  is  one  of  the 
smallest  cathedrals  in  England,  being  less  than  two  hundred  and  ninety  feet 
long,  and  other  buildings  so  encompass  it  as  to  prevent  a  good  near  view. 
There  is  an  ample  churchyard,  but  the  shrine  of  St.  Wilfrid,  the  founder, 
whose  relics  were  the  great  treasure  of  the  church,  has  long  since  disappeared. 


RIPON 


RIPOX 


FOL'XTAINS. 


289 


It  appears  that  in  ancient  times  there  was  great  quarrelling  over  the  posses- 
sion of  his  hones,  and  that  Archbishop  Odo,  declaring  his  grave  to  be  neglected, 
carried  them  off  to  Canterbury,  but  after  much  disputing  a  small  portion  of  the 
saint's  remains  were  restored  to  Ripon.  Beneath  the  corner  of  the  nave  is  the 
singular  crypt  known  as  Wilfrid's  Needle.  A  long  passage  leads  to  a  cell  from 
which  a  narrow  window  opens  into  another  passage.  Through  this  window 
we  are  told  that  women  whose  virtue  was  doubted  were  made  to  crawl,  and 
if  they  stuck  by  the  way  were  adjudged  guilty.  This  is  the  oldest  part  of  the 
church,  and  is  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  existing  relic  of  the  earliest  age 
of  Christianity  in  Yorkshire.  The  cathedral  contains  some  interesting  monu- 
ments, one  of  which  demonstrates  that  epitaph-writing  flourished  in  times  agone 
at  Ripon.  It  commemorates,  as  "a  faint  emblem  of  his  refined  taste,"  William 
Weddell  of  Newby,  "in  whom  every  virtue  that  ennobles  the  human  mind  was 
united  with  every  elegance  that  adorns  it." 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Ripon  is  the  world- 
renowned  Fountains  Abbey,  of  which  the  re- 
mains are  in  excellent  preservation,  and  stand 
in  a  beautiful  situation  on  the  verge  of  the  fine 
estate  of  the  Marquis  of  Ripon,  Studley  Royal. 
The  gates  of  this  park  are  about  two  miles  from 
Ripon.  the  road  winding  among  the  trees,  be- 
neath which  herds  of  deer  are  browsing,  and 
leading  up  to  the  mansion,  in  front  of  which  is 


STUDLEY    ROYAL    PARK. 


an  attractive  scene.  The  little  river  Skell,  on  its  way  to  the  Ure,  emerges 
from  a  glen,  and  is  banked  up  to  form  a  lake,  from  which  it  tumbles  over  a 
pretty  cascade.  The  steep  bank  opposite  is  covered  with  trees.  John  Aisla- 
bie,  who  had  been  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  laid  out  this  park  in  1720, 


290 


K.\GLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


and  such  repute  did  his  ornamental  works  attain  that  Studley  was  regarded 
as  the  most  embellished  spot  in  the  North  of  England.  Ultimately,  through 
heiresses,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  present  owner.  The  pleasure-grounds 
were  laid  out  in  the  Dutch  style  then  in  vogue,  and  the  slopes  of  the  valley 
were  terraced,  planted  with  evergreens,  and  adorned  with  statues.  Modern 
landscape-gardening  has  somewhat  varied  the  details,  but  the  original  design 

-.:•*?-./•;.  remains.     In  the  gardens 

are  the  Octagon  Tower, 
perched  upon  a  com- 
manding knoll,  the  Tem- 
ple of  Piety,  near  the 
water-side,  and  an  arbor 
known  as  Anne  Boleyn's 
Seat,  which  commands  a 
superb  view  over  Foun- 
tains Dale.  Let  us  enter 
this  pretty  glen,  which 
gradually  narrows,  be- 
comes more  abrupt  and 
rocky,  and  as  we  go  along 
the  Skell  leads  us  from 
the  woods  out  upon  a 
level  grassy  meadow,  at 
the  end  of  which  stand 
the  gray  ruins  of  the 
famous  Cistercian  abbey. 
The  buildings  spread  com- 
pletely across  the  glen  to 
its  craggy  sides  on  either 
hand.  On  the  right  there 

js     only     room      |or     a 


THE  TRANSEPT.  FOUNTAINS  ABHEY. 

to  pass  between  the  transept  and  the  limestone  rock  which  rears  on  high  the 
trees  rooted  in  its  crannies,  whose  branches  almost  brush  the  abbey's  stately 
tower.  On  the  other  side  is  the  little  river,  with  the  conventual  buildings  car- 
ried across  it  in  more  than  one  place,  the  water  flowing  through  a  vaulted 
tunnel.  These  buildings  extend  to  the  bases  of  the  opposite  crags.  The  ruins 
are  of  great  size,  ami  it  does  not  take  much  imagination  to  restore  the  glen  to 
its  aspect  when  the  abbey  was  in  full  glory  seven  or  eight  hundred  years  ao-o. 
Its  founders  came  hither  almost  as  exiles  from  York,  and  began  building  the 


AY/V..V 


291 


abbey  in  the  twelfth  century,  but  it  \\as  barely  completed  when  Henry  \  111. 
forced  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  It  was  very  rich,  and  furnished 
rare  plunder  when  the  monks  were  compelled  to  leave  it.  The  close  or 


immediate   grounds   of    the    abbey    con- 
acres, entered  by  a  gate-house  to  the 
church,  the   ruins  of  which   can   still 
is  an  old   mill   alongside    the   Skell, 
and  a  picturesque  bridge  crosses  the 
stream,  while  on  a  neighboring  knoll 
are  some  ancient  yews  which  are  be- 
lieved to  have  sheltered  the  earliest 
settlers,  and   are   called   the  "  Seven 
Sisters."  But,  unfortunately,  only  two 
now     remain, 
gnarled     and 
twisted,    with 
d  e  c  a  y  i  n  g 
trunks        and 
falling     limbs  * 
— ruins  in  fact  <"? 
that     are     as 
venerable  as 
Fou  n  tains 
Abbey    it 
self.   Bot 
anist  s 


tained  about  eighty 
westward  of  the 
be  seen.  Near  by 


HUMAIN.s    10WER    AND   CRYPT. 


say  they  are  twelve  hun- 
dred years  old,  and  that 
they  were  full-grown  trees 
when  the  exiles   from  York 
first  encamped  alongside   the 
Skell. 

Entering    the     close,    the     ruins 
ot    the   abbev  church  are   seen    in 


292 


E \GLA.\D,    PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


better  preservation  than  the  other  buildings.  The  roof  is  gone,  for  its  wood- 
work was  used  to  melt  clown  the  lead  by  zealous  Reformers  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  green  grass  has  replaced  the  pavement.  The  ruins  disclose  a 
noble  temple,  the  tower  rising  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet.  In  the  eastern 


FOUNTAINS    HALL. 


transept  is  the  beautiful  "Chapel  of  the  Nine  Altars"  with  its  tall  and  slender 
columns,  some  of  the  clustering  shafts  having  fallen.  For  some  distance  south- 
ward and  eastward  from  the  church  extend  the  ruins  of  the  other  convent- 
buildings.  In  former  times  they  were  used  as  a  stone-quarry  for  the  neigh- 
borhood, many  of  the  walls  being  levelled  to  the  ground,  but  since  the  last 
century  they  have  been  scrupulously  preserved.  The  plan  is  readily  traced,  for 
excavations  have  been  made  to  better  display  the  ruins.  South  of  the  nave 
of  the  church  was  the  cloister-court.  On  one  side  was  the  transept  and 
chapter-house,  and  on  the  other  a  long  corridor  supporting  the  dormitory. 
This  was  one  hundred  yards  long,  extending  across  the  river,  and  abutting 
against  the  crags  on  the  other  side.  South  of  the  cloister-court  was  tin- 
refectory  and  other  apartments.  To  the  eastward  was  a  group  of  buildings 
terminating  in  a  grand  house  for  the  abbot,  which  also  bridged  the  river.  All 


RlCH.MO\n    CASTLE. 


293 


these  are  now  in  picturesque  ruin,  the  long  corridor,  with  its  vaulted  root  sup- 
•ported  by  a  central  row  of  columns  with  broad  arches,  being  considered  one 
•of  the  most  impressive  religious  remains  in  England.  One  of  the  chief  uses 
to  which  the  Fountains  Abbey  stone-quarry  was  devoted  was  the  building,  in 
the  reign  of  James  I.,  ot  a  fine  Jacobean  mansion  as  the  residence  for  its  then 
owner,  Sir  Stephen  Proctor.  This  is  Fountains  Hall,  an  elaborate  structure 
of  that  period  which  stands  near  the  abbey  gateway,  and  to  a  great  extent 
atones,  by  its  quaint  attractiveness,  tor  the  vandalism  that  despoiled  the  abbey 
to  furnish  materials  for  its  construction.  In  fact,  the  mournful  reflection  is 
always  uppermost  in  viewing  the  remains  of  this  famous  place  that  it  would 
have  been  a  grand  old  ruin  could  it  have  been  preserved,  but  the  spoilers  who 
plundered  it  for  their  own  profit  are  said  to  have  discovered,  in  the  fleeting 
character  of  the  riches  thus  obtained,  that  ill-gotten  gains  never  prosper. 

RICHMOND     CASTLE. 

Proceeding  northward  from  Ripon,  and  crossing  over  into  the  valley  of  the 
river  Swale,  we  reach  one  of  the  most  picturesquely  located  towns  of  England 

—  Richmond,  whose  great  castle  is  among  the 
best  English  remains  of  the  Norman  era.    The 


RICHMOND    CASTLE. 


river    flows    over    a    broken   and 
rocky  bed  around  the  base  of  a 
cliff,  and   crowning  the  precipice 
above   is  the  great  castle,  magnificent  even  in  decay.      It  was   founded   in   the 


294 


ENGLAXD,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTn'E. 


reign  of  William  the  Conqueror  by  Alan  the  Red,  who  was  created  Earl  of 
Richmond,  and  it  covers  a  space  of  about  five  acres  on  a  rock  projecting  over 
the  river,  the  prominent  tower  of  the  venerable  keep  being  surrounded  by 
walls  and  buildings.  A  lane  leads  up  from  the  market-place  of  the  town  to 
the  castle-gate,  alongside  of  which  are  Robin  Hood's  Tower  and  the  Golden 
Tower,  the  latter  named  from  a  tradition  of  a  treasure  being  once  found  there. 
The  Scolland's  Hall,  a  fine  specimen  of  Norman  work,  adjoins  this  tower.  The 
keep  is  one  hundred  feet  high  and  furnished  with  walls  eleven  feet  thick,  time 
having  had  little  effect  upon  its  noble  structure,  one  of  the  most  perfect  Nor- 
man keep-towers  remaining  in  England.  There  is  a  grand  view  from  the  bat- 
tlements over  the  romantic  valley  of  the  Swale.  In  the  village  is  an  old  gray 
tower,  the  only  remains  of  a  Eranciscan  monastery  founded  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  the  ruins  of  Easby  Abbey,  dating  from  the  twelfth  century,  are 
not  far  away  ;  its  granary  is  still  in  use.  The  valley  of  the  Swale  may  be 
pursued  lor  a  long  distance,  furnishing  constant  displays  of  romantic  scenery, 
or,  it  that  is  preferred,  excellent  trout-fishing. 


YORK. 


From   the    high   hills   in    the    neighborhood  of   Fountains   Dale    there    is    a 
magnificent   view   over   the  plain   of  York,   and   we   will   now    proceed   down 


THE    MULTANGULAR    TOWER    AND    ST.   MARY  S    AHBEY. 


the  valley  of  the  Ouse   to  the  venerable  city  that   the   Romans   called   Ebora- 
cum,  and  which  is  the  capital  of  a  county  exceeding  in  extent  many  kingdoms 


YORK'.  295 

and  principalities  of  Europe.  This  ancient  British  stronghold  has  given  its 
name  to  the  metropolis  of  the  New  World,  but  the  modern  Babylon  on  the 
Hudson  has  far  outstripped  the  little  city  on  the  equally  diminutive  Ouse.  It 
was  Ebrane,  the  king  of  the  Brigantes,  who  is  said  to  have  founded  York,  but 
so  long  ago  that  he  is  believed  a  myth.  Whatever  its  origin,  a  settlement  was 
there  before  the  Christian  era,  but  nothing  certain  is  known  of  it  beyond  the 
fact  that  it  existed  when  the  Romans  invaded  Britain  and  captured  York,  with 
other  strongholds,  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era.  Eboracum  was 
made  the  head-quarters  of  their  fifth  legion,  and  soon  became  the  chief  city 
of  a  district  now  rich  in  the  relics  of  the  Roman  occupation,  their  dead  being 
still  found  thickly  buried  around  the  town.  Portions  of  the  walls  of  Ebora- 
cum remain,  among  them  being  that  remarkable  relic,  the  tower,  polygonal  in 
plan,  which  is  known  as  the  Multangular  Tower,  and  which  marks  the  south- 
western angle  of  the  ancient  Roman  city.  Not  far  away  are  the  dilapidated 
ruins  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  once  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  proudest  religious 
houses  in  the  North  of  England,  but  with  little  now  left  but  portions  of  the 
foundations,  a  gateway,  and  the  north  and  west  walls  of  the  nave.  This  abbey 
was  founded  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  it  was  from  here  that  the  exiled  monks 
who  built  Fountains  Abbey  were  driven  out.  This  ruin  has  been  in  its  present 
condition  for  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

For  over  three  centures  Eboracum  was  a  great  Roman  city.  Here  came  the 
emperor  Severus  and  died  in  211,  his  body  being  cremated  and  the  ashes  con- 
veyed to  Rome.  When  the  empire  was  divided,  Britain  fell  to  the  share  of  Con- 
stantius  Chlorus,  and  he  made  Eboracum  his  home,  dying  there  in  305.  Constan- 
tine  the  Great,  his  son,  was  first  proclaimed  emperor  at  Eboracum.  When  the 
Romans  departed  evil  days  fell  upon  York  the  barbarians  destroyed  it,  and 
it  was  not  till  627  that  it  reappeared  in  history,  when  Eadwine,  King  of  North- 
umbria,  was  baptized  there  by  St.  Paulinus  on  Easter  Day,  a  little  wooden 
church  being  built  for  the  purpose.  Then  began  its  ecclesiastical  eminence, 
for  Paulinus  was  the  first  Archbishop  of  York,  beginning  a  line  of  prelates  that 
has  continued  unbroken  since.  In  the  eighth  century  the  Northmen  began 
their  incursions,  and  from  spoilers  ultimately  became  settlers.  York  pros- 
pered, being  thronged  with  Danish  merchants,  and  in  the  tenth  century  had 
thirty  thousand  population.  In  King  Harold's  reign  the  Northmen  attacked 
and  captured  the  town,  when  Harold  surprised  and  defeated  them,  killing  their 
leader  Tostig,  but  no  sooner  had  he  won  the  victory  than  he  had  to  hasten 
southward  to  meet  William  the  Norman,  and  be  in  turn  vanquished  and  slain. 
York  resisted  William,  but  he  ultimately  conquered  the  city  and  built  a  castle 
there,  but  being  rebellious  the  people  attacked  the  castle.  He  returned  and 


296  KXGLA.Vf),   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


chastised  them  and  built  a  second  castle  on  the  Ouse  ;  but  the  discontent  deep- 
ened, and  a  Danish  fleet  appearing  in  the  Humber  there  was  another  rebellion, 
and  the  Norman  garrison  firing  the  houses  around  the  castle  to  clear  the 
ground  for  its  better  defence,  the  greater  part  of  the  city  was  consumed. 
While  this  was  going  on  the  Danes  arrived,  attacked  and  captured  both 
castles,  slaughtered  their  entire  garrisons  of  three  thousand  men,  and  were 
practically  unopposed  by  the  discontented  people.  Then  it  was  that  the 
stalwart  Norman  William  swore  "  by  the  splendor  of  God  "  to  avenge  him- 
self on  Xorthumbria.  and,  keeping  his  pledge,  he  devastated  the  entire  coun- 
try north  of  the  Humber. 

York  continued  to  exist  without  making  much  history  for  several  centuries,  till 
the  Wars  of  the  Roses  came  between  the  rival  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster. 
In  this  York  bore  its  full  part,  but  it  was  at  first  the  Lancastrian  king  who  was 
most  frequently  found  at  York,  and  not  the  duke  who  bore  the  title.  But  after 
Towton  Field,  on  Palm  Sunday,  March  29,  1461,  the  most  sanguinary  battle 
ever  fought  in  England,  one  hundred  thousand  men  being  engaged,  the  news  of 
their  defeat  was  brought  to  the  Lancastrian  king  Henry  and  Queen  Margaret 
at  York,  and  they  soon  became  fugitives,  and  their  youthful  adversary,  the 
Duke  of  York,  was  crowned  Edward  IV.  in  York  Minster.  In  the  Civil  War 
it  was  in  York  that  Charles  I.  took  refuge,  and  from  that  city  issued  his  first 
declaration  of  war  against  the  Parliament.  For  two  years  York  was  loyal  to 
the  king,  and  then  the  fierce  siege  took  place  in  which  the  Parliamentary  forces 
ruined  St.  Mary's  Abbey  by  undermining  and  destroying  its  tower.  Prince 
Rupert  raised  this  siege,  but  the  respite  was  not  long.  Marston  Moor  saw 
the  king  defeated,  Rupert's  troopers  being,  as  the  historian  tells  us,  made  as 
"stubble  to  the  swords  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides."  The  king's  shattered  army 
retreated  to  York,  was  pursued,  and  in  a  fortnight  York  surrendered  to  the 
Parliamentary  forces.  The  city  languished  afterwards,  losing  its  trade,  and 
developing  vast  pride,  but  equal  poverty.  Since  the  days  of  railways,  how- 
ever, it  has  become  a  very  important  junction,  and  has  thus  somewhat  revived 
its  activity. 

The  walls  of  York  are  almost  as  complete  as  those  of  Chester,  while  its 
ancient  gateways  are  in  much  better  preservation.  The  gateways,  called 
"bars,"  are  among  the  marked  features  of  the  city,  and  the  streets  leading  to 
them  are  called  "gates."  The  chief  of  these  is  Micklegate,  the  highroad  lead- 
ing to  the  south,  the  most  important  street  in  York,  and  Micklegate  Bar  is  the 
most  graceful  in  design  of  all,  coming  down  from  Tudor  days,  with  turrets  and 
battlements  pierced  with  cross-shaped  loopholes  and  surmounted  by  small 
stone  figures  of  warriors.  It  was  on  this  bar  that  the  head  of  the  Duke  of 


YORK. 


297 


York  was  exposed,  and  the  ghastly  spectacle  greeted  his  son,  Edward 
rode  into  the  town  after  Towton  Field.    It  did  not  take  long  to  strike  off 
of  several  distinguished  prisoners  and  put  them  in  his  place  as  an 
offering.     Here  also  whitened  the  heads  of  traitors 
down  to  as  late  as  the  last  Jacobite  rebellion.    One 
of  the  buttresses  of  the  walls  of  York  is  the  Red 
Tower,  so  called  from  the  red  brick  of  which  it 
is  built.    These  walls  and  gates  are  full  of  in- 
teresting relics  of  the  olden  time,  and  they  are 
still  preserved  to  show  the  line  of  circumvalla- 


IV.,  as  he 
the  heads 
expiatory 


M1CKLEGATE    BAR— THE    RED   TOWER. 


tion  of  the  ancient  walled  city.  But  the  chief  glory  ot  York  is  its  famous  min- 
ster, on  which  the  hand  of  time  has  been  lightly  laid.  When  King  Eadwine 
was  baptized  in  the  little  wooden  church  hastily  erected  for  the  purpose,  he 
began  building  at  the  same  place,  at  the  suggestion  of  Paulinus,  a  large  and 
more  noble  basilica  of  stone,  wherein  the  little  church  was  to  be  included.  But 
before  it  was  completed  the  king  was  slain,  and  his  head  was  brought  to  York 
and  buried  in  the  portico  of  the  basilica.  This  church  fell  into  decay,  and  was 


298 


ENGLAND,    PICTURESQUE  A.\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


burned  in  the  eighth  century.  On  its  site  was  built  a  much  larger  minster, 
which  was  consumed  in  William  the  Conqueror's  time,  when  the  greater  part 
of  York  was  burned.  From  its  ashes  rose  the  present  magnificent  minster. 


YORK    Ml.-sSlKR. 


portions  of  which  were  building  from  the  eleventh  to  the  fifteenth  century,  it 
being  completed  as  we  now  see  it  in  1470,  and  reconsecrated  as  the  cathedral 
of  St.  Peter  with  great  pomp  in  1472.  Its  chief  treasure  was  the  shrine  of  St. 
William,  the  nephew  of  King  Stephen,  a  holy  man  of  singularly  gentle  cha- 
racter. When  he  came  into  York  it  is  said  the  pressure  of  the  crowd  was  so 
great  that  it  caused  the  fall  of  a  bridge  over  the  Ouse,  but  the  saint  by  a 


299 


miracle  saved  all  their  lives.  The  shrine  was  destroyed  at  the  Reformation, 
and  the  relics  buried  in  the  nave,  where  they  were  found  in  the  last  century. 
York  Minster  remained  almost  unchanged  until  1829,  when  a  lunatic  named 
Martin  concealed  himself  one  night  in  the  cathedral  and  set  fire  to  the  wood- 
work of  the  choir, 
afterwards  escaping 
through  a  transept- 
window.  The  fire 
destroyed  the  timber 
roofs  of  the  choir  and 
nave  and  the  great 
organ.  Martin  was 
arrested,  and  con- 
fined in  an  asylum 
until  he  died.  The 
restoration  cost 
$350,000,  and  had 
not  long  been  com- 
pleted when  some 
workmen  accident- 
ally set  fire  to  the 
south-western  tower, 
which  gutted  it,  de- 
stroyed the  bells,  and 
burned  the  roof of  the 
nave.  This  mischief 
cost  $i  25,0110  to  re- 
pair, and  the  south- 
ern transept,  which 
was  considered  un- 
safe, has  since  been 
partially  rebuilt. 

Few  Knglish  cathe- 
drals exceed  York  CHOIR  OF  YORK  MINSTER. 
Minster  in  dignity  and  massive  grandeur.  It  is  the  largest  Gothic  church  in 
the  kingdom,  and  contains  one  of  the  biggest  bells,  "Old  Peter,"  weighing  ten 
and  three-quarter  tons,  and  struck  regularly  everyday  at  noon.  The  minster  is 
five  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  long,  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet  wide, 
ninety-nine  feet  high  in  the  nave,  and  its  towers  rise  about  two  hundred  feet. 


EXGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  central  tower  being  two  hundred  and  twelve  feet  high.  Its  great  charms  are 
its  windows,  most  of  them  containing  the  original  stained  glass,  some  of  it 
nearly  six  hundred  years  old.  The  east  window  is  the  largest  stained-glass 
window  in  the  world,  seventy-seven  by  thirty-two  feet,  and  of  exquisite  design, 
being  made  by  John  Thornton  of  Coventry  in  1408,  who  was  paid  one  dollar 
per  week  wages  and  got  a  present  of  fifty  dollars  when  he  finished  it.  At  the 
end  of  one  transept  is  the  Five  Sisters  Window,  designed  by  five  nuns,  each 
planning  a  tall,  narrow  sash  ;  and  a  beautiful  rose-window  is  at  the  end  of  the 
other  transept.  High  up  in  the  nave  the  statue  of  St.  George  stands  on  one 
side  defying  the  dragon,  who  pokes  out  his  head  on  the  other.  Its  tombs  are 

among  the  minster's  greatest  curi- 
osities. The  effigy  of  Archbishop 
Walter  de  Grey,  nearly  six  hundred 

'•• :  /fMPlK#--^i.  JK  &         .        and  nfty  years  old,  is  stretched  out 

in  an  open  coffin  lying  under  a  su- 
perb canopy,  and  the  corpse  instead 
of  being  in  the  ground  is  overhead 
in  the  canopy.  All  the  walls  are 
full  of  memorial  tablets — a  few  mod- 
ern ones  to  English  soldiers,  but 
most  of  them  ancient.  Strange 
tombs  are  also  set  in  the  walls, 
bearing  effigies  of  the  dead.  Sir 
William  Gee  stands  up  with  his 
two  wives,  one  on  each  side,  and 

TOMB  OF  ARCHBISHOP   WALTER  DE  GREY,  YORK   MINSTER.       his      six      children— all     eight     StEtUCS 

having  their  hands  folded.  Others  sit  up  like  Punch  and  Judy,  the  women 
dressed  in  hoops,  farthingales,  and  ruffs,  the  highest  fashions  of  their  age. 
Here  is  buried  Wentworth,  second  Earl  of  Strafford,  and  scores  of  archbishops. 
The  body  ot  the  famous  Hotspur  is  entombed  in  the  wall  beneath  the  great 
east  window.  Burke's  friend  Saville  is  buried  here,  that  statesman  having 
written  his  epitaph.  The  outside  of  the  minster  has  all  sorts  of  grotesque 
protuberances,  which,  according  to  the  ancient  style  of  church-building,  rep- 
resent the  evil  spirits  that  religion  casts  out.  Adjoining  the  north  transept, 
and  approached  through  a  beautiful  vestibule,  is  the  chapter-house,  an  octag- 
onal building  sixty-three  feet  in  diameter  and  surmounted  by  a  pyramidal 
roof.  Seven  of  its  sides  are  large  stained-glass  windows,  and  the  ceiling  is  a 
magnificent  work. 

York  Castle  occupied  a  peninsula  between  the  Ouse  and  a  branch  called  the 


YORK.  301 

Foss.  Of  this  Clifford's  Tower  is  about  all  of  the  ancient  work  that  remains. 
It  rises  on  its  mound  high  above  the  surrounding  buildings,  and  was  the  keep 
of  the  ancient  fortress,  constructed  according  to  a  remarkable  and  unique  plan, 
consisting  of  parts  of  four  cylinders  running  into  each  other.  It  dates  from 
Edward  I.,  but  the  entrance  was  built  by  Clifford,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  its 
governor  under  Charles  I.  The  interior  of  the  tower  was  afterwards  burned, 
and  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  was  imprisoned 
there,  planted  a  walnut  tree  within  the  tower  which  is  still  growing.  It  was  in 
the  keep  of  the  Norman  castle,  which  this  tower  replaced,  that  the  massacre 


of  the  Jews,  which  grew  out 
of  race-jealousy  at  their  great 
wealth,  occurred  in  1190.  On 
March  1 6th  the  house  of  Benet, 
the  leading  Jew  in  York,  was 
sacked  by  a  mob  and  his  wife 
and  children  murdered.  Five  hundred  of  his  countrvmen  then  sought  refuo-e  in 

-  c>  & 

the  castle,  and  those  who  remained  outside  were  killed.  The  mob  besieged  the 
castle,  led  by  a  hermit  from  the  neighborhood  "  famed  for  zeal  and  holiness," 
who  was  clothed  in  white  robes,  and  each  morning  celebrated  mass  and  in- 
rlamed  the  fury  of  the  besiegers  by  his  preaching.  At  last  he  ventured  too 
near  the  walls,  and  was  brained  by  a  stone.  Battering-rams  were  then  brought 
up,  and  a  night's  carouse  was  indulged  in  before  the  work  of  knocking  down 
the  castle  began.  Within  was  a  different  scene :  the  Jews  were  without  food 
or  hope.  An  aged  rabbi,  who  had  come  as  a  missionary  from  the  East,  and 
was  venerated  almost  as  a  prophet,  exhorted  his  brethren  to  render  up  freely 
their  lives  to  God  rather  than  await  death  at  the  enemy's  hands.  Nearly  all 


302 


ENGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AM)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


decided  to  followjiis  counsel ; 
killed  their  wives  and  children, 
and  then  turned  their  swords 
upon  themselves.  Day  broke, 
and  the  small  remnant  who 
dared  not  die  called  from  the 
walls  of  the  blazing  castle  that 
they  were  anxious  for  baptism 
and  "  the  faith  and  peace  of 
Christ."  They  were  promised 
everything,  opened  the  gates, 
and  were  all  mas.sacred.  In 
later  years  York  Castle  has 
enclosed  some  well  -  known 
prisoners,  among  them  Eugene 
Aram,  and  Dick  Turpin,  who 
was  hanged  there.  The  York 
elections  and  mass-meetings 
are  held  in  the  courtyard. 


they  fired  the  castle,  destroyed  their  property. 


THE    SHAMBLES. 


CASTLE  HOWARD. 


303 


Here  Wilberforce,  who  long  represented  York  in  Parliament,  spoke  in  i  784, 
when  Bos\vell  wrote  of  him:  "I  saw  what  seemed  a  mere  shrimp  mount  upon 
the  table,  but  as  I  listened  he  grew  and  grew  until  the  shrimp  became  a  whale." 
The  York  streets  are  full  of  old  houses,  many  with  porches  and  overhanging  fronts. 
One  of  the  most  curious  rows  is  the  Shambles,  on  a  narrow  street  and  dating 
from  the  fourteenth  century.  A  little  wav  out  of  town  is  the  village  ot  Holoate 

*  o  o 

which  was  the  residence  of  Lindley  Murray  the  grammarian.  Guy  Fawkes  is 
said  to  have  been  a  native  of  York,  and  this  strange  and  antique  old  city,  we 
are  also  credibly  assured,  was  in  1632  the  birthplace  of  Robinson  Crusoe. 

CASTLE    HOWARD. 

Starting  north-east   from   York  towards  the  coast,  we  go  along  the  pretty- 
valley  of   the   Uerwent,  and   not   far  from  the   borders  of  the   stream  come  to 


that  magnificent  pile,  the  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Carlisle— Castle  Howard.  More 
than  a  century  ago  Walpole  wrote  of  it:  "Lord  Strafford  had  told  me  that  I 
should  see  one  of  the  finest  places  in  Yorkshire,  but  nobody  had  informed  me 
that  I  should  at  one  view  see  a  palace,  a  town,  a  fortified  city  ;  temples  on  high 


304 


EXGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


places ;  woods  worthy  of  being  each  a  metropolis  of  the  Druids ;  vales  con- 
nected to  hills  by  other  woods  ;  the  noblest  lawn  in  the  world,  fenced  by  half 
the  horizon  ;  and  a  mausoleum  that  would  tempt  one  to  be  buried  alive.  In 
short,  I  have  seen  gigantic  places  before,  but  never  a  sublimer  one."  Castle 
Howard  was  the  work  of  Vanbrugh,  the  designer  of  Blenheim,  and  in  plan  is 
somewhat  similar,  but  much  more  sober  and  simple,  with  a  central  cupola  that 
gives  it  dignity.  It  avoids  many  of  the  faults  of  Blenheim :  its  wings  are  more 
subdued,  so  that  the  central  colonnade  stands  out  to  greater  advantage,  and 
there  are  few  more  imposing  coun-  ^r*- ^-\  try-houses  in  England  than  this 


palace  of  the   Howards.     This 
house  of  Norfolk,  so  that  "  all 
ards,"  esteemed  the  bluest 
in  their  veins.    The  Earls 
ed  from  "Belted  Will" 
the  lord  warden  of  the 
the  first  Stuart — whose 
worth     Castle,    twelve 
lisle.        His    grandson 
restoration  of  Charles 
was    created    the    first 
bones  lie  in  York  Min- 
third  earl,  who  was  dep- 
coronation     oi     Queen 
ard.     The  seventh  earl, 
erick,    was     for    eight 
resigning    in     1864    on 
it  is  said  that  he  was  one 
who  really  won  the  affec- 


amily  are  scions  of  the  ducal 
the    blood  of   all    the    How- 
blood  in  the  kingdom,  runs 
of  Carlisle    are  descend- 
— Lord  William  Howard, 
Marches  in  the  days  of 
stronghold  was  at    Na- 
miles  north-east  of  Car- 
took  an  active  part  in  the 
II.,  and  in   recompense 
Earl    of    Carlisle.     His 
ster.    His  grandson,  the 
uty  earl-marshal  at  the 
Anne,  built  Castle  How- 
George    William    Fred- 
years  viceroy  in  Ireland, 
account  of  ill-health ;  and 
of  the  few  English  rulers 
tions    of    the     people     oi 
died   soon   afterwards, 
station    in    the    valley    of 


that  unhappy  country.    He 

Leaving     the     railway-    THE  OBELISK.  CASTLE  HOWARD. 

the  Derwent,  and  mounting  the  hills  to  the  westward,  a  little  village  is  reached 
on  the  confines  of  the  park.  Beyond  the  village  the  road  to  the  park-gates 
passes  through  meadow-land,  and  is  bordered  by  beautiful  beech  trees  arranged 
in  clusters  of  about  a  dozen  trees  in  each,  producing  an  unusual  but  most  happy 
effect.  The  gateway  is  entered,  a  plain  building  in  a  castellated  wall — this 
being  Walpole's  "fortified  city"— and,  proceeding  up  a  slope,  the  fine  avenue 
of  beeches  crosses  another  avenue  of  lime  trees.  Here  is  placed  an  obelisk 
erected  in  honor  of  John  Churchill,  Duke  of  Marlborough,  which  also  bears  an 
inscription  telling  of  the  erection  of  Castle  Howard.  It  recites  that  the  house 


CASTLE   HOWARD. 


305 


was  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  castle  of  Hinderskelf,  and  was  begun  in  1702 
by  Charles,  the  third  Earl  of  Carlisle,  who  set  up  this  inscription  in  1731.  The 
happy  earl,  pleased  with  the  grand  palace  and  park  he  had  created,  thus  ad- 
dresses posterity  on  the  obelisk  : 

"  If  to  perfection  these  plantations  rise, 
If  they  agreeably  my  heirs  surprise. 
This  faithful  pillar  will  their  age  declare 
As  long  as  time  these  characters  shall  spare. 
Here,  then,   with  kind  remembrance  read  his  name 
Who  for  posterity  performed  the  same." 

The  avenue  then  leads  on  past  the  north  front  of  the  castle,  standing  in  a  fine 
situation  upon  a  ridge  between  two  shallow  valleys.  The  bed  of  the  northern 
valley  has  been  converted  into  a  lake,  while  on  the  southern  slopes  are  beau- 
tiful and  extensive  lawns  and  gardens.  The  house  forms  three  sides  of  a  hol- 
low square,  and  within,  it  is  very  interesting  in  pictures 
and  ornaments.  It  is  cut  up,  however,  into  small  rooms 
and  long,  chilly  corridors,  which  detract  from  its 
good  effect.  The  entrance-hall  is  beneath  the 
central  dome  and  occupies  the  whole  height 
_  of  the  structure,  but  it  is  only  about 


Tllli    TliMI'LK,    WITH    THli    MAl'SOLEUM    IX    THE    DISTANCE. 

thirty-five  feet  square,  giving  a  sense  of  smallness.  Frescoes  decorate  the 
walls  and  ceilings.  The  public  apartments,  which  are  in  several  suites  open- 
ing into  each  other  and  flanked  by  long  corridors,  are  like  a  museum,  so  full 
are  they  of  rare  works  of  art,  china,  glass,  and  paintings.  Much  of  the  col- 
lection came  from  the  Orleans  Gallery.  There  are  also  many  portraits  in  black 
and  red  chalk  by  Janet,  a  French  artist  who  flourished  in  the;  sixteenth  century. 
Some  of  the  paintings  are  of  great  value,  and  are  by  Rubens,  Caracci,  Cana- 
letti,  Tintoretto,  Titian,  Hogarth,  Bellini,  Mabuse,  Holbein,  Lely,  Vandyke, 
Reynolds,  Gainsborough,  and  others.  The  Castle  Howard  collection  is  excep- 
tionally valuable  in  historical  portraits.  The  windows  of  the  drawing-room 


;o6 


EXGLAXD,  PICTURESQUE  AXD  DESCRIPTIVE. 


look  out  upon  extensive  flower-gardens,  laid  out  in  rather  formal  style  with 
antique  vases  and  statues.  Beyond  these  gardens  is  seen  a  circular  temple 
placed  upon  a  knoll,  the  "  mausoleum  "  which  so  moved  Walpole.  Here  the 
former  owners  of  the  castle  are  buried,  a  constant  memento  mori  to  the  tenants 
of  the  house,  though  the  taste  certainly  seems  peculiar  that  has  made  the  fam- 
ily tomb  the  most  prominent  object  in  the  view  from  the  drawing-room  windows. 
Not  far  from  Castle  Howard  are  the  ruins  of  Kirkham  Priory.  A  charming 
fragment  of  this  noble  church  remains  in  a  grassy  valley  on  the  margin  of  the 
Derwent.  Here,  nearly  eight  hundred  years  ago,  the  Augustinians  established 
the  priory,  the  founder  being  Sir  Walter  1'Espec,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
English  who  drove  back  King  David's  Scottish  invasion  at  the  battle  of  the 

O  O 

Standard,  near  Durham.     Sir  Walter  had  an  only  son,  who  was  one  day  riding 

near  the  site  of  Kirkham  when  a 
wild  boar  suddenly  rushed  across  his 
path.  The  horse  plunged  and  threw 
his  rider,  who,  striking  head-foremost 
against  a  projecting  stone,  was  killed. 
Sir  Walter,  being  childless,  determin- 
ed to  devote  his  wealth  to  the  service 
of  ( iod,  and  founded  three  religious 
houses — one  in  Bedfordshire,  another 
at  Rievaulx,  where  he  sought  refuge 
from  his  sorrows,  and  the  third  at 
the  place  of  his  son's  death  at  Kirk- 
ham. Legend  says  that  the  youth 
was  caught  by  his  foot  in  the  stirrup 
when  thrown,  and  was  dragged  by 
his  runaway  horse  to  the  spot  where 
the  high  altar  was  afterwards  located.  Sir  Walter's  sister  married  into  the 
family  of  De  Ros,  among  the  ancestors  of  the  Dukes  of  Rutland,  and  they 
were  patrons  of  Kirkham  until  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  Little 
remains  of  it :  the  y;ate-house  still  stands,  and  in  front  is  the  base  of  a  cross 

O 

said  to  have  been  made  from  the  stone  against  which  the  boy  was  thrown. 
Alongside  this  stone  they  hold  a  "bird-fair"  every  summer,  where  jackdaws, 
starlings,  and  other  birds  are  sold,  with  a  few  rabbits  thrown  in  ;  but  the  fair 
now  is  chiefly  an  excuse  for  a  holiday.  The  church  was  three  hundred  feet 
long,  with  the  convent-buildings  to  the  southward,  but  only  scant  ruins  remain. 
Beyond  the  ruins,  at  the  edge  of  the  greensward,  the  river  glides  along  under 
a  gray  stone  bridge.  At  Howsham,  in  the  neighborhood,  Hudson  the  railway 


GATEWAY,    KIRKHAM    PRIORY. 


A.\D    \VHITKY.  307 


king  was  born,  and  at  Foston-le-Clay  Sydney  Smith  lived,  having  for  his  friends 
the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Carlisle  of  that  day,  who  made  their  first  call  in  a 
gold  coach  and  got  stuck  fast  in  the  clay.  Here  the  witty  vicar  resided,  having 
been  presented  to  a  living,  and  built  himself  a  house,  which  he  described 
as  "the  ugliest  in  the  county,"  but  admitted  by  all  critics  to  be  "one  of  the 
most  comfortable,"  though  located  "twenty  miles  from  a  lemon."  Subse- 
quently Smith  left  here  for  Somersetshire. 

SCARBOROUGH     AND    \VHITBV. 
The  coast  of  Yorkshire  affords    the    boldest   and   grandest   scenery  on   the 

fj  J 

eastern  shore  of  England.  A  great  protruding  backbone  of  chalk  rocks 
projects  far  into  the  North  Sea  at  Flamborough  Head,  and  makes  one  of  the 
most  prominent  landmarks  on  all  that  rugged,  iron-bound  coast.  This  is  the 
Ocellum  Promontorium  of  Ptolemy,  and  its  lighthouse  is  three  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  above  the  sea,  while  far  away  over  the  waters  the  view  is  superb. 
From  Flamborough  Head  northward  beyond  Whitby  the  coast-line  is  a  suc- 
cession of  abrupt  white  cliffs  and  bold  headlands,  presenting  magnificent 
scenery.  About  twenty-three  miles  north  of  Flamborough  is  the  "  Queen 
of  Northern  Watering-places,"  as  Scarborough  is  pleased  to  be  called,  where 
a  bold  headland  three  hundred  feet  high  juts  out  into  the  North  Sea  for  a 
mile,  having  on  each  side  semicircular  bays,  each  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
wide.  At  the  extreme  point  of  the  lozenge-shaped  promontory  stands  the 
ruined  castle  which  named  the  town  Scar-burgh,  with  the  sea  washing  the 
rocky  base  of  its  foundations  on  three  sides.  Steep  cliffs  run  precipitously 
down  to  the  narrow  beach  that  fringes  these  bays  around,  and  on  the  cliffs  is 
the  town  of  Scarborough,  while  myriads  of  fishing-vessels  cluster  about  the 
breakwater-piers  that  have  been  constructed  to  make  a  harbor  of  refuge.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  finer  situation,  and  art  has  improved  it  to  the  utmost, 
especially  as  mineral  springs  add  the  attractions  of  a  spa  to  the  sea  air  and 
bathing.  The  old  castle,  battered  by  war  and  the  elements,  is  a  striking  ruin, 
the  precipitous  rock  on  which  it  stands  being  a  natural  fortress.  The  Northmen 
when  they  first  invaded  Britain  made  its  site  their  stronghold,  but  the  present 
castle  was  not  built  until  the  reign  of  King  Stephen,  when  its  builder.  William 
le  Gros,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  was  so  powerful  in  this  part  of  Yorkshire  that  it 
was  said  he  was  "in  Stephen's  days  the  more  real  king."  But  Henry  II.  com- 
pelled the  proud  earl  to  submit  to  his  authority,  though  "with  much  searching 
of  heart  and  choler,"  and  Scarborough  afterwards  became  one  of  the  royal 
castles,  Edward  I.  in  his  earlier  years  keeping  court  there.  It  was  there  that 
Edward  II.  was  besieged  and  his  favorite  Gaveston  starved  into  surrender,  and 


308 


/:.V(,7../A7>.   riCTl'RESQUE  A\D    DESCRIPTIVE. 


then  beheaded  on  Blacklow  Hill  in  violation  of  the  terms  of  his  capitulation. 
Scarborough  was  repeatedly  attacked  by  the  Scotch,  but  it  subsequently 
enjoyed  an  interval  of  peace  until  the  Reformation.  In  Wyatt's  rebellion  his 
friends  secured  possession  of  the  castle  by  stratagem.  A  number  of  his  men, 
disguised  as  peasants,  on  market-day  strolled  one  by  one  into  the  castle,  and 
then  at  a  given  signal  overpowered  the  sentinels  and  admitted  the  rest  of  their 
band.  The  castle,  however,  was  soon  recaptured  from  the  rebels,  and  Thomas 
Stafford,  the  leader  in  this  enterprise,  was  beheaded.  From  this  event  is 


SCARBOROUGH    SPA    AND    ESPLANADE 


derived  the  proverb  of  a  "Scarborough  warning  " —a  word  and  a  blow,  but 
the  blow  first.  In  Elizabeth's  reign  Scarborough  was  little  else  but  a  fishing- 
village,  and  so  unfortunate  that  it  appealed  to  the  queen  for  aid.  In  the  Civil 
War  the  castle  was  held  by  the  Royalists,  and  was  besieged  for  six  months. 
While  the  guns  could  not  reduce  it,  starvation  did,  and  the  Parliamentary  army 
took  possession.  Three  years  later  the  governor  declared  for  the  king,  and 
the  castle  again  stood  a  five  months'  siege,  finally  surrendering.  Since  then  it 
has  fallen  into  decay,  but  it  was  a  prison-house  for  George  Fox  the  Quaker, 
who  was  treated  with  severity  there.  A  little  way  down  the  hill  are  the  ruins 
of  the  ancient  church  of  St.  Mary,  which  has  been  restored. 

The  cliffs  on  the  bay  to  the  south  of  Castle  Hill  have  been  converted  into  a 
beautifully-terraced  garden  and  promenade.  Here,  amid  flowers  and  summer- 
houses  and  terraced  walks,  is  the  fashionable  resort,  the  footpaths  winding  up 
and  down  the  face  of  the  cliffs  or  broadening  into  the  gardens,  where  music 
is  provided  and  there  are  nightly  illuminations.  Millions  of  money  have  been 


ENGLAND.   1'ICTURESQL'K  AND    1>1-:.<CR  ll'TIVl-:. 


expended  in  beautifying  the  front  of  the  cliffs  adjoining  the  Spa,  which  is  on 
the  seashore,  and  to  which  Scarborough  owed  its  original  lame  as  a  watering- 
place.  The  springs  were  discovered  in  1620,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  had  become  fashionable,  but  the  present  ornamental  Spa  was  erected 
only  about  forty  years  ago.  There  is  a  broad  esplanade  in  front.  There  are 
two  springs,  one  containing  more  salt,  lime,  and  magnesia  sulphates  than  the 
other.  In  the  season,  this  esplanade — in  fact,  the  entire  front  of  the  cliffs — 
is  full  of  visitors,  while  before  it  are  rows  of  little  boxes  on  wheels,  the  bath- 
ing-houses that  are  drawn  into  the  water.  The  surf  is  usually  rather  gentle, 
however,  though  the  North  Sea  can  knock  things  about  at  a  lively  rate  in  a 
storm. 

North  of  Scarborough  the  coast  extends,  a  grand  escarpment  of  cliffs  and 
headlands,  past  Robin  Hood's  Bay,  with  its  rocky  barriers,  the  North  Cheek 
and  the  South  Cheek,  to  the  little  harbor  of  another  watering-place,  Whitby. 
The  cliffs  here  are  more  precipitous  and  the  situation  even  more  picturesque 
than  at  Scarborough.  The  river  Esk  has  carved  a  deep  glen  in  the  Yorkshire 
moorland,  and  in  this  the  town  nestles,  climbing  the  steep  banks  on  either  side 
of  the  river.  The  ruins  of  Whitby  Abbey  are  located  high  up  on  the  side  of 
the  ravine  opposite  to  the  main  part  of  the  town,  and  they  still  present  a  noble 
if  dilapidated  pile.  The  nave  fell  after  a  storm  in  the  last  century,  and  a  sim- 
ilar cause  threw  down  the  central  tower  in  1830.  The  choir  and  northern  tran- 
sept are  still  standing,  extremely  beautiful  Early  English  work  ;  only  fragments 
of  other  portions  of  the  abbey  remain.  This  was  in  olden  times  the  West- 
minster of  Northumbria,  containing  the  tombs  of  Eadwine  and  of  Oswy,  with 
kings  and  nobles  grouped  around  them.  It  has  been  over  twelve  hundred 
years  since  a  religious  house  was  founded  at  Whitby,  at  first  known  as  the 
White  Homestead,  an  outgrowth  of  the  abbey,  which  was  founded  by  Oswy 
and  presided  over  by  the  sainted  Hilda,  who  chose  the  spot  upon  the  lonely 
crags  by  the  sea.  The  fame  of  Whitby  as  a  place  of  learning  soon  spread, 
and  here  lived  the  cowherd  Csedmon,  the  first  English  poet.  The  Danes 
sacked  and  burned  it,  but  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  Percies,  the  abbey  grew  in  wealth  and  fame.  Eragments  of  the  monas- 
tery yet  remain,  and  on  the  hill  a  little  lower  down  is  the  parish  church,  with  a 
long  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  it  from  the  harbor  along  which  the  people  go, 
and  when  there  is  a  funeral  the  coffin  has  to  be  slung  in  order  to  be  carried  up 
the  steps.  Whitby  is  famous  for  its  jet,  which  is  worked  into  numerous  orna- 
ments:  this  is  a  variety  of  fossil  wood,  capable  of  being  cut  and  taking  a  high 
polish.  It  is  also  celebrated  for  its  production  of  iron-ore,  which  indeed  is  a 
product  of  all  this  part  of  Yorkshire  ;  while  at  night,  along  the  valley  of  the 


SCARBOROUGH  AXD    M'HITliY. 


H  I 


Tees,  not  far  north  of  Whitby,  the  blaze  of  the  myriads  of  furnaces  light  up 
the  heavens  like  the  fire  of  Vesuvius  in  the  Bay  of  Naples.  Among  the  tales 
of  the  abbey  is  that  which 

"  Whitby's  nuns  exulting  told, 
How  to  their  house  three  barons  bold 
Mu^t  menial  service  do." 

It  appears  that  three  gentlemen — De  Bruce,  De  Percy,  and  Allaston — were  hunt- 
ing boars  on  the  abbey-lands  in  i  159,  and  roused  a  fine  one,  which  their  dogs 
pressed  hard  and  chased  to  the  hermitage,  where  it  ran  into  the  chapel  and 
dropped  dead.  The  hermit  closed 
the  door  against  the  hounds,  and 
the  hunters,  coming  up,  were  en- 
raged to  find  the  dogs  baulked  ot 
their  prey,  and  on  the  hermit's  open- 
ing the  door  they  attacked  him  with 
their  boar-spears  and  mortally 
wounded  him.  It  was  not  long 
before  they  found  that  this  was 
dangerous  sport,  and  they  took 
sanctuary  at  Scarborough.  The 
Church,  however,  did  not  protect 
those  who  had  insulted  it,  and  they 
were  given  up  to  the  abbot  of 
Whitby,  who  was  about  to  make 
an  example  of  them  when  the  dy- 
ing hermit  summoned  the  abbot 
and  the  prisoners  to  his  bedside  and  granted  them  their  lives  and  lands.  But  it 
was  done  upon  a  peculiar  tenure:  upon  Ascension  Day  at  sunrise  they  were 
to  come  to  the  wood  on  Eskdale-side,  and  the  abbot's  officer  was  to  deliver  to 
each  "  ten  stakes,  eleven  stout  stowers,  and  eleven  yethers,  to  be  cut  by  you,  or 
some  of  you,  with  a  knife  of  one  penny  price;"  these  they  were  to  take  on 
their  backs  to  Whitby  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then  said  the  her- 
mit, "If  it  be  full  sea  your  labor  and  service  shall  cease;  and  if  low  water, 
each  of  you  shall  set  your  stakes  to  the  brim,  each  stake  one  yard  from  the 
other,  and  so  yether  them  on  each  side  with  your  yethers,  and  so  stake  on  each 
side  with  your  stout  stowers,  that  they  may  stand  three  tides  without  removing 
by  the  force  thereof.  You  shall  faithfully  do  this  in  remembrance  that  you  did 
most  cruelly  slay  me,  and  that  you  may  the  better  call  to  God  for  mercy,  repent 


WHITBY    ABBEY. 


,1  2 


EXC.LAXD,    1'ICTl'KESQUE  AXD 


unfeignedly  of  your  sins,  and  do  good  works.  The  officer  of  Eskdale-sitle 
shall  blow,  '  Out  on  you,  out  on  you,  out  on  you  for  this  heinous  crime !'  " 
Failure  of  this  strange  service  was  to  forfeit  their  lands  to  the  abbot  of 
Whitby. 

D  U  R  H  A  M  . 

We  have  now  come  into  a  region  of  coal  and  iron,  with  mines  and  furnaces 
in  abundance,  and  tall  chimneys  in  all  the  villages  pouring  out  black  smoke. 
All  the  country  is  thoroughly  cultivated,  and  the  little  streams  bubbling  over 
the  stones  at  the  bottoms  of  the  deep  valleys,  past  sloping  green  fields  and 
occasional  patches  of  woods  where  the  land  is  too  steep  for  cultivation,  give 
picturesqueness  to  the  scene.  We  have  crossed  over  the  boundary  from  York- 
shire into  Durham,  and  upon  the  very  crooked  little  river  Wear  there  rise  upon 
the  tops  of  the  precipitous  cliffs  bordering  the  stream,  high  elevated  above  the 
red-tiled  roofs  of  the  town,  the  towers  of  Durham  Cathedral  and  Castle.  They 
stand  in  a  remarkable  position.  The  Wear,  swinging  around  a  curve  like  an 


(ilCNKRAI.    VIFAV    Oh'    THE    CATHEDRAL    AND    CASH. I-:. 


elongated  horseshoe,  has  excavated  a  precipitous  valley  out  of  the  rocks.  At 
the  narrower  part  of  the  neck  there  is  a  depression,  so  that  the  promontory 
around  which  the  river  sweeps  appears  like  the  wrist  with  the  hand  clenched. 
The  town  stands  at  the  depression,  descending  the  slopes  on  either  side  to  the 
river,  and  also  spreading  upon  the  opposite  banks.  The  castle  bars  the  access 
to  the  promontory,  upon  which  stands  the  cathedral.  Thus,  almost  impregnably 


DURHAM. 


fortified,  the  ancient  bishops  of  Durham  were  practically  sovereigns,  and  they 
made  war  as  quickly  as  they  would  celebrate  a  mass  if  their  powers  were 
threatened,  for  they  bore  alike  the  sword  and  the  crozier.  Durham  was 
founded  to  guard  the  relics  of  the  famous  St.  Cuthbert  of  Lindisfarne,  the 
great  ascetic  of  the  early  Hng- 
lish  Church,  distinguished  above 
all  others  for  the  severity  of  his 
mortifications  and  his  abhor- 
rence of  women.  At  his  shrine, 
we  are  told,  none  of  the  gentler 
sex  might  worship  ;  they  were 
admitted  to  the  church,  but  in 
th<-  priory  not  even  a  queen 
could  lodge.  Queen  Philippa 
was  once  admitted  there  as  a 
guest,  but  a  tumult  arose,  and 
she  had  to  flee  half  dressed  for 
safety  to  the  castle.  St.  Cuth- 
bert was  a  hermit  to  whom  the 
sight  of  human  beings  was  a 
weariness  and  the  solitude  of 
the  desert  a  delight.  He  was 
born  in  Scotland  about  the 
middle  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, of  humble  origin,  and 
passed  his  early  years  as  a 
shepherd  near  Melrose.  He 
adopted  an  austere  life,  found  a  friend  in  the  abbot  of  Melrose,  and 
ultimately  sickened  of  an  epidemic,  his  recovery  being  despaired  of.  In 
answer,  however,  to  the  prayers  of  the  monks,  he  was  restored  to  health  as  by 
a  miracle,  and  became  the  prior  of  Melrose.  Afterwards  he  was  for  twelve 
years  prior  of  Lindisfarne,  an  island  off  the  Northumbrian  coast,  but  the 
craving  for  solitude  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and  he  became  a  hermit. 
He  went  to  Fame,  a  lonely  rocky  island  in  the  neighboring  sea,  and,  living  in 
a  hut,  spent  his  life  in  prayer  and  fasting,  but  having  time,  according  to  the 
legend,  to  work  abundant  miracles.  A  spring  issued  from  the  rock  to  give 
him  water,  the  sea  laid  fagots  at  his  feet,  and  the  birds  ministered  to  his  wants. 
At  first  other  monks  had  free  access  to  him,  but  gradually  he  secluded  him- 
self in  the  hut,  speaking  to  them  through  the  window,  and  ultimately  closed 


NORMAN    DOORWAY    IN    DURHAM    CASTLE. 


3'4  ENGLAND^  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 

even  that  against  them  except  in  cases  of  emergency.  Such  sanctity  naturally 
acquired  wide  fame,  and  after  long  urging  he  consented  to  become  a  bishop, 
at  first  at  Hexham,  afterwards  at  Lindisfarne,  thus  returning  to  familiar  scenes 
and  an  island  home.  But  his  life  was  ebbing,  and  after  two  years'  service  he 
longed  again  for  his  hermit's  hut  on  the  rock  of  Fame.  He  resigned  the 
bishopric,  and,  returning  to  his  hut,  in  a  few  weeks  died.  His  brethren 
buried  him  beside  his  altar,  where  he  rested  eleven  years;  then  exhuming 
the  body,  it  was  found  thoroughly  preserved,  and  was  buried  again  in  a  new 
coffin  at  Lindisfarne.  Almost  two  hundred  years  passed,  when  the  Danes 
made  an  incursion,  and  to  escape  them  the  monks  took  the  body,  with  other 
precious  relics,  and  left  Lindisfarne.  During  four  years  they  wandered  about 
with  their  sacred  charge,  and  ultimately  settled  near  Chester-le-Street,  where 
the  body  of  St.  Cuthbert  rested  for  over  a  century;  but  another  Danish  inva- 
sion in  995  sent  the  saint's  bones  once  more  on  their  travels,  and  they  were 
taken  to  Ripon.  The  danger  past,  the  monks  started  on  their  return,  trans- 
porting the  coffin  on  a  carriage.  They  had  arrived  at  the  Wear,  when  sud- 
denly the  carriage  stopped  and  was  found  to  be  immovable.  This  event  no 
doubt  had  a  meaning,  and  the  monks  prayed  and  fasted  for  three  days  to  learn 
what  it  was.  Then  the  saint  appeared  in  a  vision  and  said  he  had  chosen  this 
spot  for  his  abode.  It  was  a  wild  place,  known  as  Dunhelm  :  the  monks  went  to 
the  Dun,  or  headland,  and  erected  a  tabernacle  for  their  ark  from  the  boughs 
of  trees  while  they  built  a  stone  church,  within  which,  in  the  year  999,  the  body 
was  enshrined.  This  church  stood  until  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  when  the 
king  made  its  bishop  the  Earl  of  Durham,  and  his  palatinate  jurisdiction  began. 
The  present  Durham  Cathedral  was  begun  in  1093,  with  the  castle  alongside. 
As  we  look  at  them  from  the  railway-station,  they  stand  a  monument  of  the 
days  when  the  same  hand  grasped  the  pastoral  staff  and  the  sword — "  half 
house  of  God,  half  castle  'gainst  the  Scot."  Upon  the  top  of  the  rocks,  which 
are  clad  in  foliage  to  the  river's  edge,  on  the  left  hand,  supported  by  massive 
outworks  built  up  from  halfway  down  the  slope,  rises  the  western  face  of  the 
castle.  Beyond  this,  above  a  fringe  of  trees,  rises  the  lofty  cathedral,  its  high 
central  tower  forming  the  apex  of  the  group  and  its  two  western  towers  look- 
ing down  into  the  ravine.  The  galilee  in  front  appears  built  up  from  the  depths 
of  the  valley,  and  is  supported  by  outworks  scarcely  less  solid  than  those  of 
the  castle.  Durham,  more  than  any  other  place  in  England,  is  a  memorial  of 
the  temporal  authority  of  the  Church,  uniting  the  mitre  and  the  coronet.  The 
plan  of  Durham  Cathedral  is  peculiar  in  having  the  closed  galilee  at  the  west- 
ern end,  instead  of  the  open  porch  as  is  usual,  while  the  eastern  end,  which  is 
wider  than  the  choir,  terminates  abruptly,  having  no  Lady  Chape],  but  being 


DURHAM. 


3'5 


in  effect  cut  off,  with  a  gable  in  the  centre  and  a  great  rose-window.  As  the 
galilee  overhangs  the  ravine,  the  principal  entrance  to  the  cathedral  is  from  a 
fine  northern  porch.  To  the  portal  is  affixed  a  large  knocker  of  quaint  design, 
which  in  former  days 
was  a  Mecca  for  the 
fugitive,  for  the  shrine 
of  St.  Cuthbert  enjoy- 
ed the  right  of  sanc- 
tuary. When  the  sup- 
pliant grasped  this 
knocker  he  was  safe, 
for  over  the  door  two 
monks  kept  perpetual 
watch  to  open  at  the 
first  stroke.  As  soon 
as  admitted  the  sup- 
pliant was  required  to 
confess  his  crime,  what- 
ever it  might  be.  This 
was  written  down,  and 
a  bell  in  the  galilee 
tolled  to  announce  the 
fact  that  some  one  had 
sought  "  the  peace  of 
Cuthbert;"  and  he  was 
then  clothed  in  a  black 
gown  with  a  yellow 
cross  on  the  shoulder. 
After  t  h  i  r  t  y-s  e  v  e  n 
days,  if  no  pardon 
could  be  obtained, 
the  malefactor  solemn- 
ly abjured  his  native 
land  for  ever,  and 
was  conveyed  to  the 
seacoast,  bearing  a  white  wooden  cross  in  his  hand,  and  was  sent  out  of  the 
kingdom  by  the  first  ship  that  sailed. 

The   interior  of  Durham  Cathedral  is   regarded  as  the  noblest  Norman  con- 
struction yet  remaining  in  England.      The  arcade,  triforium,  and  clerestory  are 


IH'KHA.M    CATHEDRAL,  FROM    AN    OI.I)    HOMESTEAD    ON    THE    WEAR. 


A.\D 


in  fine  proportion  ;  the  nave  has  a  vaulted  roof  of  stone,  and  the  alternate 
columns  are  clustered  in  plan,  their  middle  shafts  extending  from  floor  to  roof. 
These  columns  are  enriched  with  zigzag,  lattice,  spiral,  and  vertical  flutings. 
This  cathedral,  begun  in  1093,  was  nearly  two  centuries  building,  and  the  Chapel 
of  Nine  Altars,  in  honor  of  various  saints,  was  erected  at  the  eastern  end  in 
the  twelfth  century.  Some  of  these  altars  did  duty  for  a  pair  of  saints,  St. 
Cuthbert  sharing  the  central  one  with  St.  Bede,  a  name  only  second  to  his  in 
the  memories  of  Durham,  so  that  the  nine  altars  were  availed  of  to  reverence 

sixteen  saints.  Behind  the  reredos  a 
platform  extends  a  short  distance  into 
this  chapel  at  a  height  of  six  feet  above 
the  floor.  A  large  blue  flagstone  is  let 
into  the  platform,  with  shallow  grooves 
on  either  hand.  Here  stood  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  shrine,  highly  ornamented,  and 
having  seats  underneath  for  the  pil- 
grims and  cripples  who  came  to  pray 
for  relief.  This  being  never  wanting, 

o  o ' 

we  are  told  that  the  shrine  came  to  be 
so  richly  invested  that  it  was  esteemed 
one  of  the  most  sumptuous  monuments 
in  England,  so  numerous  were  the 
offerings  and  jewels  bestowed  upon  it. 
Among  the  relics  here  accumulated  was 
the  famous  Black  Rood  of  Scotland,  the 
prize  of  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross, 
fought  near  Durham.  There  were  also 
many  relics  of  saints  and  martyrs,  scraps  of  clothing  of  the  Saviour  and  the 
Virgin,  pieces  of  the  crown  of  thorns  and  of  the  true  cross,  vials  containing 
the  milk  of  the  Virgin  Mother  and  the  blood  of  St.  Thomas,  besides  elephants' 
tusks  and  griffins'  claws  and  eggs,  with  myriads  of  jewels.  In  i  icq,  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  body  was  deposited  in  this  shrine  with  solemn  ceremonies,  and  it  rested 
there  undisturbed  until  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  reverentially  watched, 
day  and  night,  by  monks  stationed  in  an  adjoining  chamber.  Then  the  shrine 
was  destroyed  and  the  treasures  scattered,  the  coffin  opened,  and  St.  Cuthbert 
buried  beneath  the  slab,  so  that  now  the  only  remnants  visible  are  the  furrows 
worn  in  the  adjoining  pavement  by  the  feet  of  the  ancient  worshippers.  Tradi- 
tion tells  that  the  exact  position  of  St.  Cuthbert's  grave  is  known  only  to  three 
Benedictine  monks,  of  whom  Scott  writes : 


THE    NAVE,    I3UUHA.M    CATHEDRAL. 


DURHAM. 


317 


"  There,  deep  in   Durham's  Gothic  shade, 
His  relics  are  in  secret  laid, 

But  none  may  know  the  place, 
Save  of  his  holiest  servants  three, 
Deep  sworn  to  solemn  secrecy, 
Who  share  that  wondrous  grace." 

The  corpse,  however,  rests  beneath  the 
blue  slab.  In  1827  it  was  raised,  and, 
while  other  human  remains  were  found, 
there  was  disclosed  beneath  them,  in  a 
coffin,  a  skeleton  vested  in  mouldering 
robes,  and  with  it  various  treasures, 
which,  with  the  robes,  accord  with  the 
description  of  those  present  in  St. 
Cuthbert's  coffin  when  opened  in  1104. 
The  skeleton  was  reinterred  in  a  new 
coffin,  and  the  relics,  particularly  an  an- 
cient golden  cross  and  a  comb,  were 
placed  in  the  cathedral  library. 

In  the  galilee  of  Durham  Cathe- 
dral, near  the  south-eastern  angle,  is  a 
plain,  low  altar-tomb  that  marks  the  rest- 
ing-place of  St.  Bede,  commonly  known 
as  "  the  Venerable  Bede  " — a  title  which 
angelic  hands  are  said  to  have  supplied 
to  the  line  inscribed  on  his  tomb.  He  was  the  first  English  historian,  a 
gentle,  simple  scholar,  who  spent  his  life  from  childhood  in  a  monastery  at  Jar- 
row,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Wear,  and  took  his  pleasure  in  learning,  teaching, 
or  writing.  His  great  work  was  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  (lie  English  Nation^ 
which  occupied  many  years  in  compilation,  and  is  still  the  most  trusted  his- 
tory of  the  period  of  which  it  treats.  His  literary  activity  was  extraordinary, 
and  he  produced  many  other  works.  He  was  born  near  Durham  in  672,  and 
died  in  735.  His  devotion  to  literary  work  was  such  that  even  during  his  last 
illness  he  was  dictating  to  an  amanuensis  a  translation  of  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John  into  Anglo-Saxon,  and  upon  completing  the  last  sentence  requested  the 
assistant  to  place  him  on  the  floor  of  his  cell,  where  he  said  a  short  prayer,  and 
expired  as  the  closing  words  passed  his  lips.  He  was  buried  where  he  had 
lived,  at  Jarrow,  and  as  the  centuries  passed  the  fame  of  his  sanctity  and  learn- 
ing increased.  Then  a  certain  /Elfred  conceived  the  idea  of  stealing  St.  Bede's 


THE  CHOIR,  LOOKING  WEST,   DURHAM  CATHEDRAL. 


/•;,Y<;/..;.Y/>,  PICTURESQUE  A.\D 


318  __ 

remains  for  the  glorification  of  Durham.  Several  times  baffled,  he  at  length 
succeeded,  and  carrying  the  precious  relics  to  Durham,  they  were  for  a  time 
preserved  in  St.  Cuthbert's  shrine,  but  were  afterwards  removed  to  a  separate 

tomb,  which  in  1370  was  placed  in  the  gal- 
ilee,  where  it  has  since  remained.  At  the 
Reformation  the  shrine  was  destroyed,  and 
St.  Bede's  bones,  like  St.  Cuthbert's,  were 
buried  beneath  the  spot  on  which  the 
shrine  had  stood.  This  tomb  was  opened 
in  1831,  and  many  human  bones  were 
found  beneath,  together  with  a  gilt  ring. 
The  bones  in  all  probability  were  St.  Bede's 
remains.  Durham  Cathedral  contains  few 
monuments,  for  reverence  for  the  solitude 
of  St.  Cuthbert  whom  it  enshrined  ex- 
cluded memorials  of  other  men  during 
several  centuries. 

The  remains  of  the  Benedictine  monas- 
tery to  which  the  care  of  these  shrines 
was  entrusted  are  south  of  the  cathedral, 
forming  three  sides  of  a  square,  of  which 
the  cathedral  nave  was  the  fourth.  Be- 
voncl  is  an  open  green,  with  the  castle 


THF.  GAI.II.F.F.  AND  TOM:!  O 


on  the  farther  side  and  old  buildings  on  either  hand.  From  this  green  the 
castle  is  entered  by  a  gateway  with  massive  doors,  but,  while  the  structure 
is  picturesque,  it  is  not  very  ancient,  excepting  this  gateway.  It  has  mostly 
been  rebuilt  since  the  twelfth  century.  This  was  the  palace  of  the  bishops  of 
Durham,  of  whom  Antony  Bek  raised  the  power  of  the  see  to  its  highest  point. 
He  was  prelate,  soldier,  and  politician,  equally  at  home  in  peace  or  war,  at  the 
head  of  his  troops,  celebrating  a  mass,  or  surrounded  by  his  great  officers  of 
state.  He  was  the  first  who  intruded  upon  the  solitude  of  St.  Cuthbert  by 
being  buried  in  the  cathedral.  Here  lived  also  Richard  of  Bury,  noted  as  the 
most  learned  man  of  his  generation  north  of  the  Alps,  and  the  first  English 
bibliomaniac.  Bishop  Hatfield  also  ruled  at  Durham,  famous  both  as  architect 
and  warrior.  Cardinal  Wolsey  lived  here  when  Archbishop  of  York  and  his 
quarrel  with  Henry  VIII.  resulted  in  the  Durham  palatinate  beginning  to  lose 
part  of  its  power,  so  that  in  the  days  of  his  successor,  Tunstall,  it  came  to  be 
the  "  peace  of  the  king,"  and  not  of  the  bishop,  that  was  broken  within  'its 
borders.  Here  also  ruled  the  baron-bishop  Crewe,  who  was  both  a  temporal 


DURHAM.  319 


and  a  spiritual  peer,  and  Bishop  Butler,  the  profound  thinker.  But  the  bishops 
live  there  no  longer,  their  palace  being  moved  to  Auckland,  while  the  univer- 
sity is  located  in  the  castle.  It  is  the  Northern  University,  first  projected  in 
Cromwell's  time.  About  a  mile  to  the  westward  of  Durham  was  fought  the 
battle  of  Neville's  Cross  in  October,  1346.  This  was  a  few  months  after 
Edward  had  won  the  battle  of  Crecy  in  France,  and  the  King  of  Scotland, 
taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the  English  king  and  his  army,  swept 
over  the  Border  with  forty  thousand  men,  devastating  the  entire  country.  His 
chief  nobles  accompanied  him,  and  to  encourage  the  troops  the  most  sacred 
relic  of  Scotland,  the  "  Black  Rood,"  a  crucifix  of  blackened  silver,  was  pres- 
ent on  the  battlefield.  This  had  been  mysteriously  delivered  to  David  I.  on 
the  spot  in  Edinburgh  where  to  commemorate  it  Holyrood  Abbey  was  after- 
wards founded.  But,  though  King  Edward  was  in  France,  Queen  Philippa  was 
equal  to  the  emergency.  An  army  was  quickly  gathered  under  Earl  Neville, 
and  Durham  sent  its  contingent  headed  by  the  warlike  bishop.  The  invaders 
drew  near  the  walls  of  Durham,  and  the  English  army,  inferior  in  numbers, 
awaited  them.  To  confront  the  "  Black  Rood,"  the  bishop  brought  into  camp 
an  "  ark  of  God "  in  obedience  to  a  vision  :  this  was  one  of  the  cathedral's 
choicest  treasures,  "  the  holy  corporax  cloth  wherewith  St.  Cuthbert  covered 
the  chalice  when  he  used  to  say  mass."  This,  attached  to  the  point  of  a  spear, 
was  displayed  in  sight  of  the  army,  while  the  monks  upon  the  cathedral  towers, 
in  full  view  of  the  battlefield,  prayed  for  victory  for  the  defenders  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  shrine.  They  fought  three  hours  in  the  morning,  the  Scotch  with  axes, 
the  English  with  arrows;  but,  as  the  watching  monks  turned  from  prayer  to 
praise,  the  Scottish  line  wavered  and  broke,  for  the  banner  of  St.  Cuthbert 
proved  too  much  for  the  Black  Rood.  The  King  of  Scotland  was  wounded 
and  captured,  and  fifteen  thousand  of  his  men  were  slain,  including  many 
nobles.  The  Black  Rood  was  captured,  and  placed  in  the  Nine  Altars  Chapel. 
Afterwards  the  "corporax  cloth"  was  attached  to  a  velvet  banner,  and  became 
one  of  the  great  standards  of  England,  being  carried  against  Scotland  by 
Richard  11.  and  Henry  IV.,  and  it  waved  over  the  English  army  at  Flodden. 
When  not  in  use  it  was  attached  to  St.  Cuthbert's  shrine.  At  the  Reformation 
the  Black  Rood  was  lost,  and  St.  Cuthbert's  banner  fell  into  possession  of  one 
Dean  Whittingham,  whose  wife,  the  historian  lamentingly  says,  "being  a  French- 
woman, did  most  despitefully  burn  the  same  in  her  fire,  to  the  open  contempt 
and  disgrace  of  all  ancient  relics."  A  narrow  lane,  deeply  fringed  with  ferns, 
leads  out  of  Durham  over  the  hills  to  the  westward  of  the  town,  where  at  a 
cross-road  stand  the  mutilated  remains  of  Earl  Neville's  Cross,  set  up  to  mark 
the  battlefield,  now  a  wide  expanse  of  smoky  country. 


l-:\i;LA.\'D,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DKSCRiri'lVK. 


LUMLEY    CASTLE    AND     NEWCASTLE. 

Following  the  Wear  northward  towards  its  mouth,  at  a  short  distance  below 
Durham  it  passes  the  site  of  the  Roman  city  of  Conclerum,  which  had  been 
the  resting-place  of  St.  Cuthbert's  bones  until  the  Danish  invasion  drove 
them  away,  and  it  is  now  known  as  Chester-le- Street.  Here,  in  the  old 
church  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  Cuthbert,  is  the  rude  effigy  of  the  saint  which  once 
surmounted  his  tomb,  and  here  also  is  the  "  Aisle  of  Tombs,"  a  chain  of  four- 
teen monumental  effigies  of  the  Lumleys,  dating  from  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign. 


SOUTH-EAST    VIEW    OF    LUMLEY    CASTLE. 


Lumley  Castle,  now  the  Karl  of  Scarborough's  seat  (for  he  too  is  a  Lumley), 
is  a  short  distance  outside  the  town,  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  Wear. 
It  dates  from  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  but  has  been  much  modernized,  the  chief 
apartment  in  the  interior  being  the  Great  Hall,  sixty  by  thirty  feet,  with  the  Min- 
strel Gallery  at  the  western  end.  Here  on  the  wall  is  a  life-size  statue  of  the 
great  ancestor  of  the  Lumleys,  Liulph  the  Saxon,  seated  on  a  red  horse.  North 
of  this  castle,  across  the  Wear,  is  the  Earl  of  Durham's  seat,  Lambton  Castle, 
a  Gothic  and  Tudor  structure  recently  restored. 

Still  journeying  northward,  we  cross  the  hills  between  the  Wear  and  the 
Tyne,  and  come  to  the  New  Castle  which  gives  its  name  to  Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne,  the  great  coal-shipping  port.  This  is  a  strange-looking  town,  with  red- 
tiled  roofs,  narrow,  dingy,  crooked  streets,  and  myriads  of  chimneys  belching 


LUMLEY   CASTLE  AND   NEWCASTLE. 


321 


forth  smoke  from  the  many  iron-works.  These  mills  and  furnaces  are  nume- 
rous also  in  the  surrounding  country,  while  the  neighborhood  is  a  network  of 
railways  carrying  coal  from  the  various  lines  to  the  shipping-piers.  But  this 
famous  city  is  not  all  smoke  and  coal-dust:  its  New  Castle  is  an  ancient  struc- 
t'ire,  rather  dilapidated  now,  coming  down  from  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  ap- 
proached by  steep  stairways 
up  the  rock  on  which  the 
keep  is  perched.  It  has  a 
fine  hall,  which  is  used  as  a 
museum  of  Roman  relics,  and 
from  the  roof  is  a  grand  view 
along  the  Tyne.  This  castle 
has  a  well  ninety-three  feet 
deep  bored  in  the  rock.  New- 
castle in  its  newer  parts  has 
some  fine  buildings.  Grey 
Street,  containing  the  the- 
atre and  Exchange,  for  a 
space  of  about  four  hundred 
yards  is  claimed  to  be  the 
finest  street  in  the  kingdom. 
In  Low  Friars  Street  is  the 
old  chapel  of  the  Black 
Friars  monastery,  where  Ba- 
liol  did  homage  to  Edward 
111.  for  the  Scottish  throne. 
Sir  William  Armstrong  lives 
at  Jesmond.just  outside  New- 
castle, and  at  Elswick,  west 
of  the  city,  are  the  extensive  workshops  where  are  made  the  Armstrong  guns. 
The  great  High  Level  bridge  across  the  Tyne  Valley,  built  by  Stephenson,  with 
a  railway  on  top  of  a  roadway,  and  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  feet  long,  is  one  of  the  chief  engineering  works  at  Newcastle.  George 
Stephenson  was  born  in  1781  at  High  Street  House,  Wylam,  near  Newcastle, 
while  at  Prudhoe  Castle  is  a  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  At  Walls- 
end,  three  miles  east  of  Newcastle,  begins  the  celebrated  Roman  wall  that 
crossed  Britain,  and  was  defended  by  their  legions  against  incursions  by  the 
Scots.  Its  stone-and-turf  walls,  with  the  ditch,  on  the  north  side,  can  be  dis- 
tinctly traced  across  the  island. 


5=^'-    • .- 

GATEWAY,  LUMLEY    CASTLE,  FROM    THE    WALK. 


41 


322 


E XG LAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


HEXHAM. 

Ascending  the  Tyne,  we  come  to  Hexham,  an  imposing  town  as  approached 
by  the  railway,  with  the  Moat  Hall  and  the  abbey  church  occupying  command- 
ing features  in  the  landscape. 
The  Moat  Hall  is  a  large  and 
ancient  tower,  notable  for  its 
narrow  lights  and  cornice-like 
range  of  corbels.  The  abbey 
church,  formerly  the  cathedral 
of  St.  Andrew,  is  a  fine  speci- 
men of  Early  English  architec- 
ture, of  which  only  the  transept 
and  some  other  ruins  remain, 
surmounted  by  a  tower  rising 
about  one  hundred  feet  and 
supported  upon  magnificent 
arches.  Here  is  the  shrine 
of  the  ancient  chronicler.  Prior 
Richard,  an  attractive  oratory; 
and  the  town  also  produced 
another  quaint  historian  of  the 
Border  troubles,  John  of  Hex- 
ham.  It  is  an  antique  place, 
and  almost  all  of  its  old  build- 
ings bear  testimony  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  Scottish  frontier  in  the  olden 
time,  for  not  far  away  are  the  Cheviot  Hills  that  form  the  boundary,  and  in 
which  the  Tyne  takes  its  rise.  Similar  evidence  is  also  given  in  Haltwhistle, 
Hexham's  suburb,  across  the  narrow  river. 

ALNWICK    CASTLE. 

Journeying  northward  through  Northumberland,  and  following  the  coast- 
line— for  here  England  narrows  as  the  Scottish  border  is  approached — the  road 
crosses  the  diminutive  river  Alne,  running  through  a  deep  valley,  and  standing  in 
an  imposing  situation  on  its  southern  bank  is  the  renowned  stronghold  of  the 
Percies  and  guardian  of  the  Border,  Alnwick  Castle.  The  great  fortress,  as  we 
now  see  it,  was  built  as  a  defence  against  the  Scots,  and  was  protected  on  the 
northward  by  the  river-valley  and  a  deep  ravine,  which  formerly  cut  it  off  from 
the  village,  which  is  as  ancient  as  the  fortress,  as  its  quaint  old  Pottergate 


HEXHAM. 


At. WICK   CASTI.E. 


323 


Tower  attests.  Roman  remains  have  been  found  on  the  site,  and  it  was  also 
inhabited  by  the  Saxons,  the  castle  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest  being 
held  by  Gilbert  Tysen,  a  powerful  Northumbrian  chief.  It  was  then  a  primitive 
timber  fortress  in  a 
wild  region,  for  the 
earliest  masonry 
works  are  Norman, 
and  are  attributed 
to  Tysen's  descend- 
ants. Alnwick  Cas- 
tle is  a  cluster  of 
semicircular  and 
angular  bastions, 
surrounded  by  lofty 
walls,  defended  at 
intervals  by  towers, 
and  enclosing  a 
space  of  about  five 
acres.  It  has  three 
courts  or  wards, 
each  defended  for- 
merly by  massive 

gates,  with  portcullis,  porter's  lodge,  and  a  strong  guardhouse,  beneath  which 
was  a  dungeon.     Trap-doors  are  the  only  entrances  to  the  latter,  into  which 

the  prisoners  were  lowered  by  ropes.  From 
the  village  the  entrance  to  the  castle  is  through 
the  barbican,  or  outer  gate,  a  work  of  gigantic 
strength  and  massive  grandeur,  which  has  been 
the  scene  of  many  a  brave  encounter.  Near 
by  is  the  Postern  Tower,  a  sally-port  adjacent 
to  the  "  Bloody  Gap  "  and  "  Hotspur's  Chair." 
The  history  of  this  famous  stronghold  is  practi- 
cally the  history  of  this  portion  of  the  realm,  for 
in  all  the  Border  warfare  that  continued  for  cen- 
turies it  was  conspicuous.  In  the  reign  of  Wil- 
liam Rufus  it  was  gallantly  defended  by  Mow- 
bray,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  in  the  memorable  siege  by  the  Scots  under 
King  Malcolm  III.  The  garrison  were  about  surrendering,  being  almost 
starved,  when  a  private  soldier  undertook  their  deliverance.  He  rode  out  to  the 


ALNWICK    CASTLE,    FROM    THE    LION    BRIDGE. 


THE   BARBICAN    GATE. 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


besiegers'  camp,  carrying  the  keys  of  the  castle  dangling  from  his  lance,  and 
presented  himself  a  suppliant  before  the  Scottish  king,  as  if  to  deliver  up  the 
keys.  Malcolm  advanced  to  receive  them,  and  the  soldier  pierced  him  through 

the  heart.     Mal- 
colm    fell    dead, 
and    in  the   con- 
fusion   the    bold 
trooper     sprang 
upon    his    horse, 
clashed  across  the 
river,     and     was 
safe.     Malcolm's 
eldest  son,  Prince 
Edward,     ad- 
vanced rashly  to 
avenge  the  king's 
death,   and    fell 
mortally  wound- 
ed from  the-  c_as- 
tle.     Hammond's 
Ford,  named   for 
the  bold  trooper, 
marks    the    spot 
where     he     and 
his   horse    swam 
across  the  Alne, 
which  at  the  time 
was  swollen.     In 
memory  of  Mal- 
colm,   a    cross 
stands    on    the 
spot     where     he 
was     slain,    and 
near  by  is   Mal- 

THE  BARBICAN.  colm's  Well  and 

the  ruins  of  St.  Leonard's  Chapel,  built  for  the  unfortunate  king's  expiation. 
Upon  the  cross  the  inscription  states  that  Malcolm  fell  November  13,  1093,  and 
that  the  original  cross,  decayed  by  time,  was  restored  by  his  descendant,  Eliz- 
abeth, Duchess  of  Northumberland,  in  1774.  Eustace  de  Vesci.  who  built  St. 


ALXll'ICfC   CASTLE. 


325 


Leonard's  Chapel,  lived  in  the  days  of  Henry  I.  and  Stephen,  and  founded  the 
abbey  of  Alnwick.  King  David  of  Scotland  captured  the  old  timber  castle  there 
in  1 135  on  his  great  invasion  of  England,  and  Eustace  afterwards  built  the  first 
masonry  work  of  Alnwick  Castle,  traces  of  his  walls  having  since  been  found. 
Alnwick  descended  to  William,  son  of  Eustace,  and  in  1 1 74,  William  the 
Lion,  returning  from  an  invasion  of  Cumberland,  passed  before  the  castle,  and 
was  captured  and  sent  a  prisoner  into  England.  Alnwick  descended  to  Wil- 
liam's son  Eustace,  who  I 
was  visited  by  King 
John  in  1 209,  and  the 
king  there  received  the 
homage  of  Alexander 
of  Scotland.  Eustace 
was  one  of  the  chief 
barons  who  wrested 
Magna  Charta  from 
John,  and  in  the  clos- 
ing year  of  that  reign 
met  his  death  from  an 
arrow  before  Barnard 
Castle.  Henry  III.  vis- 
ited Alnwick,  and  the 
great  Edward  I.  was 
there  several  times  as 
the  guest  of  John  de 
Vesci  near  the  close  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  The  Barons  de 
Vrsci  soon  afterwards  became  ex- 
tinct, and  then  the  warlike  bishop 
of  Durham,  Antony  Bek,  came  in 
and  grabbed  the  castle.  He  sold 
it  in  1309  to  Henry  de  Percy,  and 
from  this  dates  the  rise  of  the 
great  family  of  the  northern  Bor- 
der, who  have  held  Alnwick  for 
nearly  six  centuries,  its  present 

owner  being  his  descendant,  Al-  '""••  EASTERN  ANGLE  OF  im    >;  \KHICAN. 

gernon  George  Percy.  Duke  of  Northumberland,  in  whose  veins  flows  the  blood 
of  so  many  great  families  that  he  can  use  nine  hundred  heraldic  devices  on  his 


326 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


armorial  bearings,  including  those 
of  many  kings  and  princes.  Hen- 
ry de  Percy  became  the  leader 
of  the  Border  barons,  and,  al- 
though living  at  Alnwick  only 
live  years,  seems  to  have  re- 
built most  of  the  castle,  his  son 
completing  it.  The  Percies  be- 
came the  Earls  of  Northumber- 
land, and  such  warlike  lives  did 
they  lead  (as,  for  instance,  young 
Henry  Percy,  "Hotspur")  that  it 
is  noted  that  Henry  Algernon,  the 
fifth  earl,  was  the  first  of  the  race 
who  died  in  bed.  The  next  of 
the  line  was  executed  for  rebel- 
lion, and  the  next  was  beheaded 
at  York  for  conspiring  against 
Queen  Elizabeth.  The  eighth 
earl,  favoring  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  was  im- 


THE    PERCY    BEDSTEAD. 


prisoned  in  the 
Tower,  and  was 
one  day  found 
in  his  chamber 

shot  through  the  heart.     Henry,  the  ninth  earl,  was  implicated 
in  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  imprisoned  in   the  Tower,  and  fined 
$250,000.     After  his  release  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life 
at  Petworth ;   Alnwick  was  neglected;  and  the  direct 
line  of  descent  ultimately  ended  with  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  the    eleventh  earl,  who  married  the   Duke  of 
Somerset  in  1682.      Her  grandson,  Algernon,  became 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  his  daughter,  Elizabeth 
Seymour,  was  the  ancestress  of  the  present  family,  her 
husband  being  created  the  first  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land.    Alnwick   was  then  a  ruin,  but  he  restored  it, 
and  subsequently,  under  the  direction  of  the  architect 
Salvin,   it  was   completely   rebuilt,  everything  worthy 
of  preservation  being  kept,  and   the   new  work  being 


THE    PF.RCY    CROSS. 


AL\\\'ICR~   CASTLE. 


327 


adapted  to  the  days  of  the  earlier  Percies,  whose  achievements  gave  the  strong- 
hold such  world-wide  renown. 

This  famous  castle  is  full  of  recollections  of  the  great  men  who  formerly 
inhabited  it.     The  Constable's  Tower,  remaining  mostly  in   its  ancient  condi- 

tion,  has  in  an  upper 
apartment  arms  for 
fifteen  hundred  men, 
the  Percy  tenantry, 
while  in  the  rooms 
beneath  is  deposited 
the  ancient  armor. 
"  Hotspur's  Chair" 
is  the  name  given 
to  a  seated  recess 
of  the  Ravine  Tow- 
er which  was  Hot- 
spur's favorite  re- 
sort, where  he  sat 
while  his  troops  ex- 
ercised in  the  castle- 
yard  beneath,  and 
where  he  had  an 
admirable  lookout 
to  discover  an  ap- 
proaching enemy. 
Through  the  loopholes  on  either 
side  of  the  seat  in  this  command- 
ing tower  there  is  an  extensive 
prospect  over  the  valley  of  the 
Alne  and  to  the  distant  seacoast. 
The  "  Bloody  Gap,"  another  noted  site  in  the  castle,  is  between  the  Ravine  and 
Round  Towers.  It  was  the  name  given  to  a  breach  in  the  wall  made  by  the 
Scots  during  the  Border  wars,  although  the  exact  time  is  unknown.  According 
to  tradition,  three  hundred  Scots  fell  within  the  breach,  and  they  were  ultimately 
beaten  off.  Many  arrows  have  been  found  in  the  adjacent  walls,  so  located  as 
to  indicate  they  were  shot  from  the  battlements  and  windows  of  the  keep  when 
the  assailants  were  making  this  breach.  Alnwick  Castle  was  restored  bySalvin 
with  strict  regard  to  the  rules  of  mediaeval  military  architecture.  When  it  was 
thr  great  Border  stronghold  its  governor  commanded  a  force  of  no  less  than 


CONSTABLES   TOWER. 


328 


K. \GL.L\D,  PICTURESQUE  AXD   DESCRIPTIVE. 


two  thousand  men,  who  were  employed  in  a  complicated  system  of  day  and 

night  watching  to  guard  against 
forays    by  the  Scots.      The  day 
watchers  began  at  daylight,  and 
blew  a  horn  on  the  approach  ot 
the  foe,  when  all  men  were  bound 
on  pain  of  death  to  respond  for 
the  general  defence.     The  great 
feature  of  the  restored  castle  is 
the  Prudhoe  Tower,  built  about 
twenty-five  years  ago.    After  en- 
tering   the    barbican,   which    ad- 
mits to  the  outer  ward,  the  visi- 
tor passes  between   the  Abbot's 
Tower  on  the  left  and  the  Corner 
Tower  and  Auditor's  Tower  on 
the  right.      Earl  Hugh's  turreted 
tower  also  rises  boldly  from  the 
battlements.       Passing    through 
the  middle  gatehouse,  the  keep, 
constructed  in  the  form  of  a  pol- 
ygon around  a  court,  is  seen  on 
the  right  hand,  and  in  the  gate- 
way-wall is  Percy's  famous  draw- 
well,  with  a  statue  of  St.  James 
above  blessing  the  waters.     Op- 
posite this  draw-well  is  a  covered 
drive  which  leads  to  the  entrance 
of  Prudhoe  Tower.     This  tower 
is  a   magnificent   structure,  con- 
taining the  family  and  state-apart 
ments,  built  and  decorated  in  the 
Italian  style,  and  approached  by 
a  staircase  twelve  feet  wide.     It 
was  built  at  enormous  cost,  and 
alongside    is    a    vaulted    kitchen 
of  ample  proportions,  constructed 
in  the  baronial  style,  where  there 
are  sufficient  facilities  to  prepare 


EARL    HUGH  S   TOWER. 


AL\WICK  CASTLE. 


329 


dinner  for  six  hundred  persons  at  one  time,  while  the 'subterranean  regions 
contain  bins  for  three  hundred  tons  of  coal.  Such  is  this  great  baronial  Border 
stronghold,  replete  with  memories  of 
the  warlike  Percies.  From  here  Hot- 
spur sallied  forth  to  encounter  the 
marauding  Scottish  force  which  un- 
der Douglas  had  laid  waste  England 
as  far  as  the  gates  of  York,  and 
almost  within  the  sight  of  the  castle 
is  the  bloody  field  of  Otterbourn, 
where  Douglas  fell  by  Hotspur's 
own  hand,  though  the  English  lost 
the  day  and  Hotspur  himself  was 
captured.  Again,  as  war's  fortunes 
change,  just  north  of  Alnwick  is 
Humbleton  Hill,  where  the  Scots 
had  to  fly  before  England's  "  dead- 
ly arrow-hail,"  leaving  their  leader, 

••  o 

Douglas,  with  five  wounds  and  only 
one  eye,  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
the  Percies.  It  was  from  Alnwick's 
battlements  that  the  countess  watch- 
ed "  the  Stout  Earl  of  Northumber-  THE  DRAW-WELL  AND  NORMAN  GATEWAY. 
land"  set  forth,  "his  pleasure  in  the  Scottish  woods  three  summer  days  to 
take" — an  expedition  from  which  he  never  returned.  Such  was  the  history  for 
centuries  of  this  renowned  castle,  which  is  regarded  as  presenting  the  most  per- 
fect specimen  now  existing,  perhaps  in  the  world,  of 
the  feudal  stronghold  of  mediaeval  days. 

And  now  let  us  turn  from  the  castle  to  the  church. 
Almost  alongside  of  it  is  St.  Michael's  Church,  built  with 
battlements,  as  if  prepared  as  much  for  defence  as  for 
worship,  and  a  watch-tower,  made  evidently  for  a  look- 
out and  to  hold  a  beacon  to  warn  of  the  approach  of 
forays.  This  was  one  of  the  regular  chain  of  Border 
beacons.  Within  the  church  an  old  iron-work  lectern 
still  holds  the  "  Book  of  the  Homilies,"  while  the 
churchyard  is  full  of  ancient  gravestones.  Alnwick  Abbey  once  existed  down 
alongside  the  river,  under  the  protection  of  the  castle,  but  it  has  been  long 
since  ruined,  and  its  remains  have  served  as  a  quarry  for  the  village  buildings 


330 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


LECTEKN,    ST.     MICHAEL  S 
CHURCH. 


until  little  of  them  remains.  Its  extensive  domains  are 
now  part  of  the  Duke's  Park,  and  another  contributor 
to  this  park  was  Hulne  Priory,  the  earliest  Carmelite 
monastery  in  England,  founded  in  1240.  It  stood  upon 
a  projecting  spur  of  rising  land  above  the  Alne,  backed 
by  rich  woods,  but  was  neither  large  nor  wealthy,  as 
the  neighboring  abbey  eclipsed  it.  The  discipline  of 
the  Carmelites  was  rigorous.  Each  friar  had  a  coffin 
for  his  cell  and  slept  on  straw,  while  every  morning  he 
dug  a  shovelful  of  earth  for  his  grave  and  crept  on  his 
knees  in  prayer.  Silence,  solitude,  and  strict  fasting 
were  the  injunction  upon  all,  and  their  buildings  were 
sternly  simple.  The  porter's  lodge  and  curtain-wall 
enclosing  Hulne  Priory  still  stand,  and  its  outline  can 
j-,e  traced,  though  the  ruins  are  scant.  Yet  this,  like 
all  else  at  Alnwick,  bears  evidence  of  the  troublous 
times  on  the  Border.  The  most  important  of  its  re- 
maining buildings  is  an  embattled  tower  of  refuge  from  the  Scottish  invader. 
Its  inscription  states  that  it  was  built  in 
1448  by  Sir  Henry  Percy,  fourth  Earl  of 
Northumberland.  Opposite  Hulne  Pri- 
ory is  Brislee  Hill,  which  presents  the 
most  renowned  view  in  Alnwick  Park. 
A  tower  rises  among  the  trees  upon  the 
crest  of  the  hill  from  which  bonfires  now 
blaze  on  occasions  of  festivity.  Here, 
over  the  park,  can  be  seen  the  castle 
and  town,  and  beyond,  to  the  eastward, 
the  sea,  with  its  coast-castles  as  far  north 
as  Bamborough.  The  little  Coquet  Isl- 
and in  the  distance  breaks  the  expanse 
of  blue  waters.  To  the  westward  be- 
yond the  moors  rises  the  sharp  outline 
of  the  Scottish  Border,  the  Cheviot 
Hills,  running  off  towards  the  north-east, 
and  containing  in  their  depressions  the 
passes  through  which  the  Scots  used 
to  pour  when  they  harried  Northern 
England  and  roused  the  Alnwick  warriors  to  defend  their  firesides. 


PORTER  S    LODGE,    HULNE    PKIORY. 


FORD    CASTLE  AND  FLODDEN  FIELD. 


33' 


FORD    CASTLE    AND    FLODDEN    FIELD. 

Northward,  past  the  extremity  of  the  Cheviots,  flows  the  Tweed,  and  one  of 
its  tributaries  on  the  English  side  is  the  Till,  which  drains  the  bases  of  those 
sharp  hills,  that  rise  nearly  twenty-seven  hundred  feet.  Here  was  Ford  Castle, 
and  here  was  fought  the  terrible  Border  battle  of  Flodden  in  1513.  Ford  Castle 
dated  from  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  and  its  proximity  to  the  Border  made  it  the 
object  of  many  assaults.  In  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  held  by  Sir  William 


FORD    TOWER,    OVERLOOKING    FLODDEN. 


Heron,  and  a  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Flodclen  the  Scots,  under  James  IV., 
during  Sir  William's  captivity  in  Scotland,  stormed  and  destroyed  Ford,  taking 
captive  Lady  Heron,  who  had  endeavored  to  defend  it.  In  the  last  century 
Ford  was  restored  by  the  Marquis  of  Wateribrd,  to  whom  it  had  descended, 
so  that  it  now  appears  as  a  fine  baronial  mansion,  surmounted  by  towers  and 
battlements,  and  standing  in  a  commanding  situation  overlooking  the  valley 
of  the  Till,  with  the  lofty  Cheviots  closing  the  view  a  few  miles  to  the  south- 
west, their  peaks  affording  ever-varying  scenes  as  the  season  changes. 

The  great  attraction  of  the  view,  however,  is  the  famous  hill  of  Flodden, 
about  a  mile  to  the  westward,  crowned  by  a  plantation  of  dark  fir  trees,  and 
presenting,  with  the  different  aspects  of  the  weather,  ever-changeful  scenery, 


332 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


recalling  now  the  "  dark  Flodden  "  and  anon  the  "  reel  Flodden  "  of  the  bal- 
ladists.  Across  the  valley  from  Ford  Castle,  and  at  the  foot  of  this  fir-crowned 
hill,  was  fought  one  of  the  bitterest  contests  of  the  Border.  Now,  the  famous 
battlefield  is  a  highly-cultivated  farm  and  sheep-pasture.  James  IV.  of  Scot- 
land had  unjustly  determined  to  make  war  upon  England,  and  he  set  out  upon 
it  in  opposition  to  the  real  desire  of  his  countrymen,  and  even  against  the 
omens  of  Heaven,  as  the  people  believed.  A  few  days  before  he  departed  for 
his  army  the  king  attended  St.  Michael's  Church,  adjacent  to  his  stately  palace 


THE   CHEVIOTS,    FROM    FORD    CASTLE. 


at  Linlithgow,  when  a  venerable  stranger  entered  the  aisle  where  the  king 
knelt.  The  hair  from  his  uncovered  head  flowed  down  over  his  shoulders,  and 
his  blue  robe  was  confined  by  a  linen  girdle.  With  an  air  of  majesty  he  walked 
up  to  the  kneeling  king,  and  said,  "Sire,  I  am  sent  to  warn  thee  not  to  pro- 
ceed in  thy  present  undertaking,  for  if  thou  dost  it  shall  not  fare  well  either 
with  thyself  or  those  who  go  with  thee."  He  vanished  then  in  the  awe-stricken 
crowd.  But  this  was  not  the  only  warning.  At  midnight,  prior  to  the  depart- 
ure of  the  troops  for  the  south,  it  is  related  that  a  voice  not  mortal  proclaimed 
a  summons  from  the  market-cross,  where  proclamations  were  usually  read, 
calling  upon  all  who  should  march  against  the  English  to  appear  within  the 
space  of  forty  days  before  the  court  of  the  Evil  One.  Sir  Walter  Scott  says 
that  this  summons,  like  the  apparition  at  Linlithgow,  was  probably  an  attempt 


FORD    CASTLE  AND   FLODDEN  FIELD. 


333 


by  those  averse  to  the  war  to  impose  upon  the  superstitious  temper  of  James 
IV.  But  the  king  started  at  the  head  of  the  finest  army,  and  supported  by 
the  strongest  artillery-train,  that  had  down  to  that  time  been  brought  into  the 

field  by  any  Scottish  mon- 
arch. He  entered  England 
August  22d,  without  having 
formed  any  definite  plan  of 
action.  He  wasted  two 
days  on  the  Till,  besieged 
Xorham  for  a  week,  when 
it  surrendered,  and  then  be- 
sieged Ford.  These  delays 
gave  the  English  time  to 
assemble.  King  James,  as 
above  related,  captured 
Lady  Heron  at  Ford.  She 
was  beautiful  and  deceitful, 
and  soon  enthralled  the  gay 
king  in  her  spells,  while  all 
the  time  she  was  in  com- 
munication with  the  Eng- 
lish. Thus  James  wasted 
his  time  in  dalliance,  and,  as 
Scott  tells  us, 

"  The  monarch  o'er  the  siren  hung, 
And  beat  the  measure  as  she  sung, 
And,  pressing  closer  and  more  near, 
He  whispered  praises  in  her  ear." 

All  the  time  the  energetic  Earl 
of  Surrey  was  marshalling  the 
English  hosts,  and,  marching 

^fa      twenty_sjx       thoUSalld      men 

northward  through  Durham,  received  there  the  sacred  banner  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert.  On  September  4th,  Surrey  challenged  James  to  battle,  which  the 
king  accepted  against  the  advice  of  his  best  councillors.  The  Scots  had 
become  restive  under  the  king's  do-nothing  policy,  and  many  of  them  left  the 
camp  and  returned  home  with  the  booty  already  acquired.  James  selected  a 
strong  position  on  Flodden  Hill,  with  both  Hanks  protected  and  having  the 


FLODDEN,    FROM    THE    KING'S    BEDCHAMBER,    FORD    CASTLE. 


334  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


deep  and  sluggish  waters  of  the  Till  flowing  in  front.  Surrey  advanced  and 
reconnoitred,  and  then  sent  the  king  a  herald  requesting  him  to  descend  into 
the  plain,  as  he  acted  ungallantly  in  thus  practically  shutting  himself  up  in  a 
fortress.  The  king  would  not  admit  the  herald.  Surrey  then  attempted  a 
stratagem.  Crossing  the  Till  on  the  8th,  he  encamped  at  Barmoor  Wood, 
about  two  miles  from  the  Scottish  position,  concealing  his  movement  from  the 
enemy.  On  the  Qth  he  marched  down  the  Till  to  near  its  confluence  with  the 
Tweed,  and  recrossed  to  the  eastern  bank.  This,  too,  was  uninterrupted  by 
the  Scots,  who  remained  strangely  inactive,  though  it  is  recorded  that  the  chief 
Scottish  nobles  implored  the  king  to  attack  the  English.  The  aged  Earl  Angus 
begged  him  either  to  assault  the  English  or  retreat.  "  If  you  are  afraid,  Angus," 
replied  the  king,  "  you  can  go  home."  The  master  of  artillery  implored  the 
king  to  allow  him  to  bring  his  guns  to  bear  upon  the  English,  but  James 
returned  the  reply  that  he  would  meet  his  antagonist  on  equal  terms  in  a 
fair  field,  and  scorned  to  take  an  advantage.  Then  Surrey  drew  up  his  line 
between  James  and  the  Border,  and  advanced  up  the  valley  of  the  Till  towards 
the  Scots.  The  king  set  fire  to  the  temporary  huts  on  the  hillside  where  he 
had  been  encamped,  and  descended  to  the  valley,  the  smoke  concealing  the 
movements  of  each  army  from  the  other;  but  Surrey's  stratagem  was  thus  suc- 
cessful in  drawing  him  from  his  strong  position.  The  English  van  was  led  by 
Lord  Thomas  Howard,  Surrey  commanding  the  main  body,  Sir  Edward  Stanley 
the  rear,  and  Lord  Dacre  the  reserves.  The  Scottish  advance  was  led  by  the 
Earls  of  Home  and  Huntley,  the  king  leading  the  centre,  the  Earls  of  Lennox 
and  Argyle  the  rear,  and  the  reserves,  consisting  of  the  flower  of  the  Lothians, 
were  under  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  The  battle  began  at  four  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  Scottish  advance  charged  upon  the  right  wing  of  the  English  advance 
and  routed  it.  Dacre  promptly  galloped  forward  with  his  reserves,  and  restored 
the  fortunes  of  the  day  for  the  English  right.  The  main  bodies  in  the  mean 
time  became  engaged  in  a  desperate  contest.  The  Scottish  king  in  his  ardor 
foro-ot  that  the  duties  of  a  commander  were  distinct  from  the  indiscriminate 

o 

valor  of  a  knight,  and  placed  himself  in  front  of  his  spearmen,  surrounded  by 
his  nobles,  who,  while  they  deplored  the  gallant  weakness  of  such  conduct,  dis- 
dained to  leave  their  sovereign  unprotected.  Dacre  and  Howard,  having 
defeated  the  Scottish  wing  in  front  of  them,  at  this  time  turned  their  full 
strength  against  the  flank  of  the  Scottish  centre.  It  was  a  terrific  combat, 
the  Scots  fighting  desperately  in  an  unbroken  ring  around  their  king.  The 
battle  lasted  till  night,  and  almost  annihilated  the  Scottish  forces.  Of  all  the 
splendid  host,  embracing  the  flower  of  the  nobility  and  chivalry  of  the  kingdom, 
only  a  few  haggard  and  wounded  stragglers  returned  to  tell  the  tale.  The  Eng- 


BAMBOROUGH  AND    GRACE  DARLING. 


335 


lish  victors  lost  five  thousand  slain,  and  the  Scots 
more  than  twice  that  number,  and  among  them 
the  greatest  men  of  the  land.  They  left  on 
the  field  their  king,  two  bishops,  two  mitred 
abbots,  twenty-seven  peers  and  their  sons,  and 
there  was  scarcely  a  family  of  any  position  in 
Scotland  that  did  not  lose  a  relative  there.  The 
young  Earl  of  Caithness  and  his  entire  band 
of  three  hundred  followers  perished  on  the 
field.  The  body  of  the  dead  king,  afterwards 
found  by  Dacre,  was  taken  to  Berwick  and  pre- 
sented to  his  commander,  who  had  it  embalmed 
and  conveyed  to  the  monastery  of  Sheyne  in 
Surrey.  The  poetic  instincts  of  the  Scots  were 
deeply  moved  by  the  woes  of  the  fatal  field  of 

Flodden,  and  innumerable   poems  and  ballads  THE  CRYPT,  FORD  CASTLE. 

record  the  sad  story,  the  crowning  work  of  all  being  Scott's  Marmion. 

BAMBOROUGH  AND  GRACE  DARLING. 

North  of  Flodden  Field,  and  not  far  distant,  is  the  Scottish  Border,  which  in 
this  part  is  made  by  the  river  Tweed,  with  Berwick  at  its  mouth.  The  two 
kingdoms,  so  long  in  hot  quarrel,  are  now  united  by  a  magnificent  railway- 
bridge,  elevated  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  above  the  river  and  costing 
$600,000.  For  miles  along  the  coast  the  railway  runs  almost  upon  the  edge 
of  the  ocean,  elevated  on  the  cliffs  high  above  the  sea,  while  off  the  coast  are 
Holy  Isle  and  Lindisfarne.  Here  St.  Cuthbert  was  the  bishop,  and  its  abbey 
is  a  splendid  ruin,  while  on  the  rocky  islet  of  Fame  he  lived  a  hermit,  encom- 
passing his  cell  with  a  mound  so  high  that  he  could  see  nothing  but  the 
heavens.  Two  miles  from  Fame,  on  the  mainland,  was  the  royal  city  of  Beb- 
ban  Burgh,  now  Bamborough,  the  castle  standing  upon  an  almost  perpendic- 
ular rock  rising  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  and  overlooking  the  sea.  This 
was  King  Ida's  castle,  a  Border  stronghold  in  ancient  times  whose  massive 
keep  yet  stands.  It  is  now  a  charity-school,  a  lighthouse,  and  a  life-saving 
station.  Thirty  beds  are  kept  in  the  restored  castle  for  shipwrecked  sailors, 
and  Bamborough  is  to  the  mariner  on  that  perilous  coast  what  the  convent 
of  St.  Bernard  is  to  the  traveller  in  the  Alps.  Here,  at  this  Border  haven,  we 
will  close  this  descriptive  tour  by  recalling  Bamborough's  most  pleasant  mem- 
ory— that  of  Grace  Darling.  She  was  a  native  of  the  place,  and  was  lodged, 
clothed,  and  educated  at  the  school  in  Bamborough  Castle.  Her  remains  lie 


336 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


GKACE    DARLINGS    MONUMENT. 


m  Bamborough  churchyard  under  an  altar-tomb  bearing  her  recumbent  figure 
and  surmounted  by  a  Gothic  canopy.  She  is  represented  lying  on  a  plaited 
straw  mattrass  and  holding  an  oar.  All  this  coast  is  beset  with  perils  and 
wrecks  have  been  frequent.  The  islet  of  Fame  and  a  cluster  of  other  rocks 
off  shore  add  to  the  dangers,  and  on  some  of  them  there  are  lighthouses.  One 
of  these  rocks — Longstone  Island — Grace  Darling  rendered  memorable  by  her 
intrepidity  in  perilling  her  life  during  the  storm  of  September,  1838.  Her 

father  was  the  keeper  of  Longstone  Light, 
and  on  the  night  of  September  6  the  For- 
farshire  steamer,  proceeding  from  Hull 
to  Dundee,  was  wrecked  there.  Of 
fifty-three  persons  on  board,  thirty-eight 
perished,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  yth, 
Grace,  then  about  twenty-three  years  of 
age,  discovered  the  survivors  clinging  to 
the  rocks  and  remnants  of  the  steamer, 
in  imminent  danger  of  being  washed  off 
by  the  returning  tide.  With  her  parents' 
assistance,  but  against  their  remonstrance, 
Grace  launched  a  boat,  and  with  her  father  succeeded  in  rescuing  nine  of  them, 
while  six  escaped  by  other  means.  Presents  and  demonstrations  of  admiration 
were  showered  upon  her  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  a  public  subscrip- 
tion of  $3500  was  raised  for  her  benefit.  Poor  Grace  died  four  years  later  of 
consumption.  A  monument  to  her  has  been  placed  in  St.  Cuthbert's  Chapel 
on  Longstone  Island,  and  upon  it  is  this  inscription,  from  Wordsworth : 

"  Pious  and  pure,  modest,  and  yet  so  brave, 
Though  young,  so  wise — though  meek,  so  resolute. 

"  Oh  that  winds  and  waves  could  speak 
Of  things  which  their  united  power  called  forth 
From  the  pure  depths  of  her  humanity  ! 
A  maiden  gentle,  yet  at  duty's  call 
Firm  and  unflinching  as   the  lighthouse  reared 
On  the  island-rock,  her  lonely  dwelling-place ; 
Or,  like  the  invincible  rock  itself,  that  braves, 
Age  after  age,  the  hostile  elements, 
As  when  it  guarded  holy  Cuthbert's  cell. 

"  A'l   night  the  storm  had  raged,   nor  ceased,  nor  paused, 
When,  as  day  broke,  the   maid,  through  misty  air, 
F.spies  far  off  a  wreck  amid  the  surf. 
Beating  on  one  of  those  disastrous  isles — 
Half  of  a  vessel,  half— no  more;  the  rest 
Had   vanished  !" 


VI. 

LONDON,  WESTWARD  TO  MILFORD  HAVEN. 

The  Cotsvvolds — The  River  Severn — Gloucester — Berkeley  Castle — New  Inn — Gloucester  Cathedral — Lam- 
preys— Tewkesbury  ;  its  Mustard,  Abbey,  and  Battle — Worcester;  its  Battle — Charles  II. 's  Escape — 
Worcester  Cathedral — The  Malvern  Hills — Worcestershire  Beacon — Herefordshire  Beacon— Great 
Malvern— St.  Anne's  Well— The  River  Wye— Clifford  Castle— Hereford— Old  Butcher's  Row— Nell 
Gwynne's  Birthplace — Ross — The  Man  of  Ross — Ross  Church  and  its  Trees — Walton  Castle — C.ood- 
rich  Castle — Forest  of  Dean — Coldwell— Symond's  Yat — The  Dowards— Monmouth — Kymin  Hill- 
Raglan  Castle— Redbrook— St.  Briard  Castle— Tintern  Abbey— The  Wyncliff—  Wyntour's  Leap — 
Chepstow  Castle — The  River  Monnow — The  Golden  Valley — The  Black  Mountains — Pontrilas  Court— 
Ewius  Harold — Abbey  Dore — The  Scyrrid  Vawr— Wormridge — Kilpeck — Oldcastle — Kentchurch — 
Grosmont — The  Vale  of  Usk — Abergavenny — Llanthony  Priory — Walter  Savage  Landor — Capel-y- 
Ffyn — Newport — Penarth  Roads — Cardiff — The  Rocking-Stone — Llandaff — Caerphilly  Castle  and  its 
Leaning  Tower — Swansea — The  Mumbles — Oystermouth  Castle— Neath  Abbey — Caennarthen — Ten- 
by — Manorbeer  Castle — Golden  Grove — Pembroke — Milford — Haverfordwest — Milford  Haven — Pictou 
Castle — Carew  Castle. 

GLOUCESTER. 

JOURNEYING  westward  from  the  metropolis  and  beyond  the  sources  of 
the  Thames,  let  us  mount  to  the  tops  of  the  Cotswold  Hills,  in  which  they 
take  their  rise,  and  look  down  upon  the  valley  of  the  noble  Severn  River 
beyond.  We  have  already  seen  the  Severn  at  Shrewsbury,  Wenlock,  and 
Bridgenorth,  and,  uniting  with  the  classic  Avon,  it  drains  the  western  slopes 
of  the  Cotswolds,  and,  flowing  through  a  deep  valley  between  them  and  the 
Malvern  Hills,  finally  debouches  through  a  broad  estuary  into  the  British 
Channel.  There  is  much  of  interest  to  the  tourist  along  the  banks  and  in 
neighborhood  of  this  well-known  river.  As  we  stand  upon  the  elevations 
of  the  Cotswolds  and  look  over  "  Sabrina  fair,"  the  lower  part  of  its  valley 
is  seen  as  a  broad  and  fertile  plain,  and  the  Severn's  "glassy,  cool,  translucent 
wave,"  as  the  poet  has  it,  flows  through  a  land  of  meadows,  orchards,  and 
cornfields,  with  the  hills  of  the  Forest  of  Dean  rising  on  the  western  horizon. 
Alongside  the  river  is  the  cathedral  city  of  Gloucester,  the  depot  for  a  rich 
agricultural  region  and  for  the  mining  wealth  of  Dean  Forest,  the  Berkeley 
Canal  leading  from  its  docks  for  sixteen  miles  down  the  Severn  until  the  deep 
water  of  the  estuary  is  reached.  The  Romans  early  saw  the  importance  of  this 
place  as  a  military  post,  and  founded  Glevum  here,  upon  their  Ermine  Street 

41!  337 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


road,  as  an  outpost  fortress  upon  the  border-land  of  the  Silures.  Fragments 
of  tessellated  pavements,  coins,  and  other  relics  from  time  to  time  exhumed 
attest  the  extent  of  the  Roman  settlement.  When  the  Britons  succeeded  the 
Romans,  this  settlement  became  gradually  transformed  into  Gleawecesore, 
forming  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Mercia,  and  in  the  seventh  century  /Ethelred 
bestowed  it  upon  Osric,  who  founded  a  monastery  here.  Athelstan  died  here 
in  941,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  the  Danes,  who  overrun  and  devastated 


GLOUCESTER    CATHEDKAI-,    FROM    THE   SOUTH-EAST. 


almost  the  whole  of  England,  burned  the  town  and  monastery.  The  history 
of  Gloucester,  however,  was  without  stirring  incidents,  excepting  an  occasional 
destructive  fire,  until  the  siege  took  place  in  the  Civil  War,  its  people  devoting 
themselves  more  to  commerce  than  to  politics,  and  in  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century  engaging  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  pins.  Glou- 
cester, however,  gave  the  title  to  several  earls  and  dukes,  generally  men  not 
much  envied;  as,  for  instance,  Richard  Crookback,  who  sent  from  Gloucester 
the  order  for  the  murder  of  his  nephews,  the  young  princes,  in  the  Tower. 
But  the  town  never  took  kindly  to  him,  and  warmly  welcomed  Richmond  on 
his  avenging  march  to  Bosworth  Field.  The  siege  of  Gloucester  was  made  by 
King  Charles's  troops,  the  citizens  having  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Parliament  and  strongly  fortified  their  city,  mounting  guns  for  its  defence  which 
they  got  from  London.  A  polygonal  line  of  fortifications  surrounded  Glou- 
cester, which  was  then  much  smaller  than  now,  and  the  bastions  came  down  to 
the  river,  with  outlying  works  to  defend  a  small  suburb  on  the  opposite  bank. 


GLOL'CES'J'ER.  339 


The  Cavaliers  were  in  great  strength  in  Western  England,  and  the  malignity  of 
the  Gloucester  pin-makers  seriously  embarrassed  them.  On  August  10,  1643, 
the  siege  began  with  a  summons  to  surrender,  which  the  authorities  refused. 
Parts  of  the  suburbs  were  then  burned,  and  next  morning  a  bombardment  began, 
red-hot  balls  and  heavy  stones  being  plentifully  thrown  into  the  place,  knock- 
ing the  houses  into  sad  havoc,  but  in  no  wise  damping  the  sturdy  courage 
of  the  defenders.  They  replied  bravely  with  their  cannon  and  made  repeated 
sorties,  which  inflicted  serious  damage  upon  the  besiegers.  After  over  three 
weeks  of  this  sport,  the  Royalists  shot  an  arrow  into  the  town,  September  3, 
with  a  message  in  these  words:  "These  are  to  let  you  understand  your  god 
Waller  hath  forsaken  you  and  hath  retired  himself  to  the  Tower  of  London  ; 
Essex  is  beaten  like  a  dog:  yield  to  the  king's  mercy  in  time;  otherwise,  if  we 
enter  perforce,  no  quarter  for  such  obstinate  traitorly  rogues. — From  a  Well- 
wisher."  This  conciliatory  message  was  defiantly  answered  in  a  prompt  reply 
signed  "  Nicholas  Cudgelyouwell  ;"  and  two  days  later,  Prince  Rupert  having 
suffered  a  defeat  elsewhere,  the  Cavaliers  abandoned  the  siege.  Charles  II., 
upon  his  restoration,  took  care  to  have  himself  proclaimed  with  great  pomp  at 
Gloucester,  and  also  took  the  precaution  to  destroy  its  fortifications.  The  cas- 
tle, which  had  stood  since  the  days  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  then  disappeared. 
The  west  gate,  the  last  remains  of  the  walls,  was  removed,  with  the  old  bridge 
across  the  Severn,  in  1809,  to  make  room  for  a  fine  new  bridge.  This  structure 
is  chiefly  known  through  a  humorous  connection  that  Thackeray  has  given  it 
with  King  George  III.  That  monarch  made  a  royal  visit  to  Gloucester,  and  in 
his  lectures  on  the  "  Four  Georges  "  Thackeray  says:  "One  morning,  before 
anybody  else  was  up,  the  king  walked  about  Gloucester  town,  pushed  over 
Molly  the  housemaid  with  her  pail,  who  was  scrubbing  the  doorsteps,  ran  up 
stairs  and  woke  all  the  equerries  in  their  bedrooms,  and  then  trotted  down  to 
the  bridge,  where  by  this  time  a  dozen  of  louts  were  assembled.  '  What !  is 
this  Gloucester  new  bridge?'  asked  our  gracious  monarch;  and  the  people 
answered  him,  'Yes,  Your  Majesty.' — 'Why,  then,  my  boys,  let's  have  a  hur- 
ray !'  After  giving  them  which  intellectual  gratification  he  went  home  to  break- 
fast." 

The  town  is  quaint  and  picturesque,  but  the  buildings  generally  are  modern, 
most  of  them  dating  from  the  clays  of  good  Queen  Anne,  but  they  exhibit 
great  variety  in  design.  The  most  noted  of  the  older  Gloucester  houses  is 
the  "  New  Inn,"  on  Northgate  Street.  After  the  murder  of  Edward  II.  at 
Berkeley  Castle,  not  far  from  Gloucester,  where  he  had  been  imprisoned  in  a 
dungeon  in  the  keep,  in  1327,  his  remains  were  brought  to  the  abbey  church 
at  Gloucester  for  interment,  a  shrine  being  raised  over  them  by  the  monks. 


34° 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


The  king  was  murdered  with  fiendish  cruelty.  Lord  Berkeley  at  the  castle 
would  willingly  have  protected  him,  but  he  fell  sick  ;  and  one  dark  September 
night  Edward  was  given  over  to  two  villains  named  Gurney  and  Ogle.  The 
ancient  chronicler  says  that  the  "screams  and  shrieks  of  anguish  were  heard 
even  so  far  as  the  town,  so  that  many,  being  awakened  therewith  from  their 
sleep,  as  they  themselves  confessed,  prayed  heartily  to  God  to  receive  his  soul, 
for  they  understood  by  those  cries  what  the  matter  meant."  The  king's  shrine 

in  Gloucester  naturally  at- 
tracted many  pilgrims,  and 
the  New  Inn  was  built 
about  1450  for  their  ac- 
commodation. It  is  a  brick- 
and-timber  house,  with  cor- 
ridors leading  to  the  cham- 
bers running  along  the 
sides  of  the  inner  court 
and  reached  by  outside 
stairways,  as  was  the  com- 
mon construction  of  houses 
of  public  entertainment 
three  or  four  centuries  ago. 
The  inn  remains  almost  as 
it  was  then,  having  been 
but  slightly  modernized. 
Most  of  the  pilgrims  to  the 
shrine  brought  offerings  with  them,  and  hence  the  pains  taken  for  their  accom- 
modation. The  usual  tale  is  told  about  a  subterranean  passage  connecting 
this  inn  with  the  cathedral.  New  Inn  is  enormously  strong  and  massive,  and 
covers  a  broad  surface,  being  constructed  around  two  courtyards. 

Gloucester  has  many  churches  in  proportion  to  its  size — in  fact,  so  many  that 
"as  sure  as  Gocl  is  in  Gloucester"  used  to  be  a  proverb.  Oliver  Cromwell, 
though  the  city  had  stood  sturdily  by  him,  differed  with  this,  however,  for  a 
saying  of  his  is  still  quoted,  that  "there  be  more  churches  than  godliness  in 
Gloucester."  In  later  days  the  first  Sunday-school  in  England  was  opened 
here,  and  just  outside  the  city  are  the  fragmentary  remains  of  the  branch  of 
Llanthony  Priory  to  which  the  monks  migrated  from  the  Welsh  Border.  The 
chief  attraction  of  Gloucester,  however,  is  the  cathedral,  and  the  ruins  of  the 
Benedictine  monastery  to  which  it  was  formerly  attached.  The  cathedral  is  of 
considerable  size,  being  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  is  surmounted 


NEW    INN,    GLOUCESTER. 


GLOUCESTER.  341 


by  a  much-admired  central  tower.  The  light  and  graceful  tracery  of  its  par- 
apets and  pinnacles  gives  especial  character  to  the  exterior  of  Gloucester 
Cathedral,  and  when  the  open-work  tracery  is  projected  against  the  red  glow 
of  sunset  an  unrivalled  effect  is  produced.  This  tower  is  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  high,  and  forms  an  admirable  centre  to  the  masses  of  buildings 
clustered  around  it.  The  monastery,  founded  by  Osric  in  the  seventh  century, 
stood  on  this  site,  but  after  the  Danes  burned  it  a  convent  was  built,  which 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Benedictines  in  1022.  One  of  these  monks  was 
the  "Robert  of  Gloucester"  who  in  1272  wrote  in  rhyme  a  chronicle  of  Eng- 
lish history  from  the  siege  of  Troy  to  the  death  of  Henry  II.  Their  church 
was  repeatedly  burned  and  rebuilt,  but  it  was  not  until  the  shrine  of  Edward 
II.  was  placed  in  it  that  the  religious  establishment  throve.  The  rich  harvest 
brought  by  the  pilgrims  to  this  shrine  led  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  older 
church,  by  encasing  the  shell  with  Perpendicular  work  in  the  lower  part  and 
completely  rebuilding  the  upper  portion.  This  was  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  by  the  close  of  the  next  century  the  cathedral  appeared  as  it  is  now  seen. 
Entering  the  fine  southern  porch,  we  are  ushered  into  the  splendid  Norman 
nave  bordered  by  exceptionally  high  piers,  rising  thirty  feet,  and  surmounted 
by  a  low  triforium  and  clerestory.  The  design  is  rather  dwarfed  by  thus 
impoverishing  the  upper  stories.  The  choir  has  an  enormous  east  window, 
made  wider  than  the  choir  itself  by  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  the  walls: 
and  this  retains  most  of  the  old  stained  glass.  The  choir  has  recently  been 
restored,  and  in  the  old  woodwork  the  seat  of  the  mayor  is  retained  opposite 
the  throne  of  the  bishop.  On  the  floor  an  oblong  setting  of  tiles  marks  the 
grave  of  William  the  Conqueror's  son  Robert,  who  died  at  Cardiff,  and  whose 
monument  stands  in  an  adjoining  chapel.  The  Lady  Chapel  is  east  of  the 
choir,  and  has  a  "  whispering  gallery  "  over  its  entrance.  Beneath  the  choir 
is  the  crypt,  antedating  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  one  of  the  remains  of  the 
original  church  of  the  Benedictines.  On  the  south  side  of  the  choir  is  the 
monument  to  Edward  II.,  standing  in  an  archway.  The  effigy  is  of  alabaster, 
and  is  surmounted  by  a  beautiful  sculptured  canopy.  The  cloisters  north  of 
the  nave  are  most  attractive,  the  roof  being  vaulted  in  fan-patterns  of  great 
richness.  There  can  still  be  seen  along  the  north  walk  of  these  cloisters  the 
lavatories  for  the  monks,  with  the  troughs  into  which  the  water  flowed  and  the 
recesses  in  the  wall  above  to  contain  the  towels.  Beyond  the  cloisters  are 
the  other  remains  of  the  monastery,  now  generally  incorporated  into  houses. 
Gloucester  has  been  a  bishop's  see  since  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  one 
of  its  bishops  was  the  zealous  Reformer  who  was  martyred  in  sight  of  his 
own  cathedral — John  Hooper:  his  statue  stands  in  St.  Mary's  Square,  where 


342 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND    DESCRIPTIVE. 


Queen  Mary  had  him  burned  as  a  heretic.     Gloucester  also  has  its  Spa,  a  cha- 
lybeate spring  recently  discovered  in  the  south-eastern  suburbs,  but  the  town  is 

-in  chiefly  known  to  fame 
abroad  by  its  salmon 
and  lampreys.  The 
lamprey  is  caught  in 
the  Severn  and  potted 
for  export,  having 
been  considered  a 
dainty  by  the  epicures 
of  remote  as  well  as 
modern  times.  It 
was  in  great  request 
in  the  time  of  King 
John,  when  we  are 
of 


MONKS'    LAVATORY,    GLOUCESTER   CATHEDRAL. 


told     "  the     men 


Gloucester  gave  forty  marks  to  that  king  to  have  his  good  will,  because  they 
regarded  him  not  as  they  ought  in  the  matter  of  their  lampreys."  This  was 
the  favorite  dish  of  Henry  I.  (Beauclerc),  and  over-indulgence  in  lampreys 
finally  killed  him.  It  was  the  custom  until  1836  for  the  corporation  of  Glou- 
cester to  send  every  Christmas  to  the  sovereign  "  a  lamprey  pie  with  a  raised 
crust." 

TEWKESBURY. 

Let  us  ascend  the  valley  of  the  Severn,  and  in  the  centre  of  its  broad  plain, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Avon,  find  another  great  religious  house  in  the  smaller 
but  equally  noted  town  of  Tewkesbury.  All  around  are  rich  meadows,  and 
here,  away  from  the  hills,  was  the  ideal  site  for  a  monastery  according  to  the 
ancient  notion,  where  the  languor  of  the  gentle  air  prevented  the  blood  flow- 
ing with  too  quick  pulse.  The  Avon,  spanned  by  an  old  arched  bridge,  washes 
one  side  of  the  town  ;  the  massive  abbey-tower  rises  above  a  fringe  of  foliage 
and  orchards,  while  on  the  one  hand  the  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  steep  Cots- 
wolds,  and  on  the  other  by  the  broken  masses  of  the  Malverns.  Close  to  the 
town,  on  its  western  verge,  flows  the  Severn,  crossed  by  a  fine  modern  iron 
bridge.  Tewkesbury  is  known  to  fame  by  its  mustard,  its  abbey,  and  its  battle. 
The  renown  of  the  Tewkesbury  mustard  goes  back  for  at  least  three  centuries : 
as  "  thick  as  Tewkesbury  mustard  "  was  a  proverb  of  Falstaff' s.  That  old-time 
historian  Fuller  says  of  it,  "  The  best  in  England  (to  take  no  larger  compass) 
is  made  at  Tewkesbury.  It  is  very  wholesome  for  the  clearing  of  the  head, 


TEWKESBURY. 


343 


moderately  taken."      But,  unfortunately,  the  reputation  of  Tewkesbury  for  this 
commodity  has  declined  in   modern   times. 

The  history  of  Tewkesbury  Abbey  comes  from  misty  antiquity,  and  it  is 
thought  by  some  to  have  been  named  "  Dukes-borough "  from  two  ancient 
Britons,  Dukes  Odda  and  Dudda,  but  others  say  it  commemorates  a  missionary 
monk  named  Theoe,  who  founded  a  little  church  there  in  the  seventh  century. 
Brictric,  King  of  YVessex, 
was  buried  within  its  walls 
in  the  ninth  century,  and, 
like  Gloucester,  it  suffered 
afterwards  from  the  ravages 
of  the  Danes.  But  it  flour- 
ished subsequently,  and  in 
the  days  of  William  Rufus 
the  manor  was  conferred 
upon  Fitz-Hamon,  an  in- 
fluential nobleman,  under 
whose  auspices  the  present 
abbey  was  built.  Nothing 
remains  of  any  prior  build- 
ing. The  church  was  be- 
gun in  1 100,  but  the  builder 
was  killed  in  battle  before  it 
was  completed.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  cross  with  short 
transepts,  and  a  tower  rising 
from  the  centre.  The  choir 
was  originally  terminated  by 
apses,  which  can  still  be  traced,  and  there  were  other  apses  on  the  eastern  side 
of  each  transept.  While  the  outlines  of  most  of  the  abbey  are  Norman,  the 
choir  is  almost  all  of  later  date.  The  western  front  has  the  singular  feature 
of  being  almost  all  occupied  by  an  enormous  and  deeply-recessed  Norman 
arch,  into  which  a  doorway  and  tracery  were  inserted  about  two  hundred 
years  ago,  replacing  one  blown  down  by  a  storm  in  1661.  This  abbey 
church  was  dedicated  in  1123,  and  the  services  were  almost  the  last  diocesan 
act  of  Theulf,  bishop  of  Worcester.  One  of  the  dedication  ceremonies  was 
quaint.  As  the  bishop  came  to  the  middle  of  the  nave,  we  are  told  that  he 
found  part  of  the  pavement  spread  with  white  wood-ashes,  upon  which  he 
wrote  the  alphabet  twice  with  his  pastoral  staff — first  the  Greek  alphabet  from 


TEWKESBUKY. 


344 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


north-east  to  south-west,  and  then  the  Latin,  from  south-east  to  north-west, 
thus  placing  them  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  He  signified  by  this  ceremony  that 
all  divine  revelation  was  conveyed  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  that  the 
gospel  comprehended  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross  men  of  all  races  and  all 
languages.  The  time  had  been  when  at  such  consecrations  three  alphabets 
were  written— the  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin— as  the  title  on  the  cross  had 
been  written  in  these  three  tongues,  but  the  Hebrew  was  early  discontinued, 
"probably,"  writes  Blunt,  the  historian  of  Tewkesbury  Abbey,  "because  even 
bishops  might  not  always  be  able  to  manage  their  Alpha  Beta  in  that  character." 


TKWKESBURY    ABBEY. 


The  best  views  of  the  abbey  are  from  the  south-east,  and  the  interior  is  re- 
garded as  more  remarkable  than  the  exterior.  The  nave  is  of  singular  gran- 
deur, its  round  Norman  columns  being  exceptionally  lofty.  The  triforium  is 
stunted,  and  consists  merely  of  two  pairs  of  small  arches,  above  which  the  ribs 
of  a  noble  fretted  roof  expand,  so  that  it  appears  as  if  the  roof  were  imme- 
diately supported  by  the  columns  of  the  nave.  The  choir  is  short  and  hex- 
agonal, being  only  sixty-six  feet  from  the  reredos,  and  is  surrounded  by  a 
number  of  polygonal  chapels,  as  at  Westminster  Abbey,  with  which  it  appears 
quite  similar  in  plan.  The  Lady  Chapel,  originally  at  the  east  end,  has  been 
entirely  destroyed.  There  are  several  monuments  of  great  interest  in  these 


TEWKESBURY. 


345 


chapels,  some  of  them  in  the  form  of  chantries — being  exquisite  cages  in  stone- 
work— within  which  are  the  tombs  of  the  founders.  Here  lie  some  of  the  chief 
nobility  of  England  who  in  the  days  of  the  Plantagenets  were  the  lords  of 
Tewkesbury — the  Beauchamps,  Nevilles,  De  Clares,  and  Despensers.  Fitz- 
Hamon's  tomb  was  not  erected  until  the  fourteenth  century.  Here  lie  Clar- 
ence and  his  wife,  Isabel,  the  daughter  of  \Yarwick  the  "  King-maker,"  and 
also  the  murdered  son  of  Henry 
VI.,  who  was  "  stabbed  in  the  field 
by  Tewkesbury,"  with  other  vic- 
tims of  that  fatal  battle.  The  re- 
mains of  the  cloisters  lie  to  the 
south  of  the  abbey,  and  beyond  is 
the  ancient  gateway,  of  rather  un- 
usual plan. 

The  battle  of  Tewkesbury,  which 
sealed  the  fate  of  the  Lancastrian 
party  in  England,  was  fought  in 
1471  upon  the  Bloody  Meadow, 
then  called  the  Vineyard,  just  out- 
side the  town  and  to  the  southward 
of  the  abbey.  The  Lancastrian 
line  was  soon  broken,  and  the 
fight  became  practically  a  slaugh- 
ter, as  the  defeated  party  were 
forced  back  upon  the  town  and 
into  the  very  abbey  itself.  Many 
of  the  fugitives  sought  refuge  in 
the  church,  and  the  Yorkists  fol- 
lowed them,  striking  down  their  victims  in  the  graveyard,  and  even  within  the 
church-doors.  The  abbot,  taking  in  his  hand  the  sacred  Host,  confronted  King 
Edward  himself  in  the  porch  and  forbade  him  to  pollute  the  house  of  God  with 
blood,  and  would  not  allow  him  to  enter  until  he  had  promised  mercy  to  those 
who  had  sought  refuge  inside.  This  clemency,  however,  was  short-lived,  for 
in  the  afternoon  the  young  Prince  of  Wales,  Henry  VI. 's  son,  was  brought 
before  Edward  and  murdered  by  his  attendants.  Shakespeare  represents 
Edward  as  dealing  the  first  blow  with  a  dagger,  but  the  truer  story  seems  to 
be  that,  enraged  by  a  haughty  answer  from  the  young  prince,  he  struck  him  in 
the  face  with  his  gauntlet,  which  the  bystanders  accepted  as  a  signal  for  the 
murder.  Two  days  afterwards  a  number  of  the  chief  captives  were  executed. 


THE    CHOIR    OF    TEWKESBURY    ABBEY. 


44 


346 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


WORCESTER. 

Still  ascending  the  valley  of  the  Severn,  we  come  to  Worcester,  another  of 
the  military  stations  of  the  Romans,  established  to  hold  this  rich,  fertile,  and 
coveted  region.  Its  cathedral,  and,  in  fact,  much  of  the  town,  stand  upon  an 
elevated  ridge,  with  the  river  flowing  at  the  base.  To  this  day  Worcester  retains 
the  plan  of  the  original  Roman  camp,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  made  at 
that  time  much  mark  in  history.  The  Britons  captured  it,  and  named  the  place 
Wigoma  Ceaster,  and  it  was  afterwards  incorporated  into  Mercia.  In  the 
eleventh  century  a  castle  was  built  near  the  Severn,  and  the  earlier  kings  of 
England  were  frequently  its  residents.  King  John  had  great  veneration  for 


WORCESTER    CATHEDRAL,    FKOM    THE   SEVERN. 

.St.  Wulstan,  the  founder  of  Worcester  Cathedral,  and  he  was  laid  to  rest 
beside  that  saint's  shrine.  Worcester  suffered  the  usual  penalties  of  the  towns 
in  the  Severn  Valley :  it  was  destroyed  by  the  Danes  and  burned  by  Hardi- 
canute,  and  in  the  twelfth  century  town,  castle,  and  cathedral  were  all  consumed 
by  a  fire  supposed  to  be  caused  by  the  Welsh.  It  was  partially  burned  three 
times  subsequently  in  that  century,  and  in  Henry  III.'s  reign  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort  and  his  son  were  defeated  and  slain  on  the  neighboring  hills.  The  final 
conflagration  was  caused  by  Owen  Glendower  in  1401,  after  which  quieter 


WORCESTER.  347 


times  came  until  the  Civil  War.  Worcester  was  zealous  for  King  Charles, 
and  suffered  from  two  sieges,  being  the  last  city  that  held  out  for  the  royal 
cause.  It  was  the  scene  of  Charles  II. 's  first  and  unsuccessful  effort  to  regain 
the  English  crown.  He  had  been  acknowledged  and  crowned  by  the  Scots, 
and  attempted  the  invasion  of  England.  His  army  marched  down  through  the 
western  counties,  while  Cromwell  kept  between  him  and  London.  He  reached 
Worcester,  when  Cromwell  determined  to  attack  him,  and  marched  the  Par- 
liamentary army  to  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  encamping  on  Red  Hill,  where  he 
intrenched.  Sending  part  of  his  troops  across  the  Severn,  on  September  3, 
1651,  Cromwell  attacked  Worcester  on  both  sides,  leading  the  van  of  the 
main  body  in  person.  Young  Charles  held  a  council  of  war  in  the  cathedral- 
tower,  and  when  he  descended  to  personally  lead  the  defence,  the  fight  had 
become  hot;  and  it  lasted  several  hours,  Cromwell  describing  the  battle  as 
being  "as  stiff  a  contest  as  I  have  ever  seen."  The  Scots  were  outnumbered 
and  beaten,  but  would  not  surrender,  and  the  battle  did  not  close  till  nightfall. 
Then  it  was  found  that,  while  Cromwell  had  suffered  inconsiderable  loss,  the 
royal  forces  had  lost  six  thousand  men  and  all  their  artillery  and  baggage. 
Charles  fought  bravely,  and  narrowly  avoided  capture.  A  handful  ot  troops 
defended  Sidbury  Gate,  leading  in  from  the  suburb  of  the  town  where  the 
battle  had  been  hottest.  Charles  had  to  dismount  and  creep  under  an  over- 
turned hay-wagon,  and,  entering  the  gate,  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  to  the 
corn-market,  where  he  escaped  with  Lord  Wilmot  through  the  back  door  of 
a  house,  while  some  of  his  officers  beat  off  Cobbett's  troops  who  attacked  the 
front.  Upon  this  house,  built  in  1557,  is  still  read  the  inscription,  "Love  God; 
honor  the  king."  Then  getting  out  of  the  city,  Charles  escaped  into  the  wood 
of  Boscobel,  and  after  a  series  of  romantic  adventures  managed  to  reach  the 
seacoast  in  Sussex,  and  on  October  I5th  embarked  at  Shoreham  for  France. 
It  was  in  this  battle  that  Worcester  earned  the  motto  it  still  bears  of  "  Civitas 
fidelis." 

Worcester's  most  conspicuous  building  is  the  cathedral,  its  tower  being 
prominently  seen  from  miles  around.  Its  western  front  overlooks  the  Severn, 
and  the  ground-plan  is  an  elongated  rectangle  with  small  double  transepts. 
The  choir  and  portions  of  the  nave  are  the  original  work,  most  of  the  remain- 
der being  restored.  St.  Dunstan's  successor,  Bishop  Oswald,  built  the  first 
cathedral  here,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  work  he  met  an  unexpected 
check.  The  ancient  chronicler  tells  us  that  a  large  stone  became  immovable, 
and  despite  every  exertion  could  not  be  brought  to  its  proper  place.  "St. 
Oswald,"  he  continues,  "after  praying  earnestly,  beheld  '  Ethiopem  quendam ' 
sitting  upon  the  stone  and  mocking  the  builders :  the  sign  of  the  cross  removed 


343 


E.\'GLA.\'£>,    PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


him  effectually."    No  portion  of  this  original  building  remains,  the  earliest  parts 
of  the  present  cathedral  dating  from  Bishop  Wulstan's  time,  in  the  eleventh 
century.      Wulstan  was  a  man  of  piety  and  simplicity  who  retained  his  see 
after  the  Norman  Conquest.     The  increasing  number  of  monks  in  the  monas- 
tery    compelled     t  h  e 
removal    of    Oswald's 
church  to   make  more 
room,  and  Wulstan  re- 
gretfully built  the  new 
cathedral,     saying     he 
was  pulling  down  the 
church  of  a  far  holier 
man     than     himself. 
Miracles  were  frequent 
at  Wulstan's  tomb,  and 
in  1203  ne  was  canon- 
ized.    His  church  was 
unlucky — several  times 
partly  burned,  and  once 
the  central  tower  fell, 
and  afterwards  the  two 
western  towers  during 
storms  ;  but  it  was  al- 
ways repaired,  and  in 
1218,  St.  Wulstan's  re- 
mains were  removed  to 
a  shrine  near  the  high 
altar,  and  the  cathedral 
rededicated      in     the 
presence  of  Henry  III. 
The    interior   view    is 
striking,  the  arches  of  the  nave,  triforium,  and  clerestory  being  in  harmonious 
proportions.     In  the  middle  of  the  choir  is  King  John's  monument,  the  effigy 
representing  him   crowned  and  in   royal   robes,  holding  the  sceptre  and  the 
sword,  the  point  of  the  latter  inserted  in  the  mouth  of  a  lion  on  which  his  feet 
rest.     We  are  told  that  in  1797  the  coffin  was  found  beneath  the  tomb,  with 
the  apparel  partially  mouldered,  but  the  remains  all  gone.     There  are  several 
other  monuments  in  the  cathedral — one  a  mural  slab  commemorating  Anne, 
wife  of  Izaak  Walton,  '•*  a  woman  of  remarkable  prudence  and  of  the  primitive 


THE    CHOIR    OF    WORCESTER    CATHEDRAL. 


ll'OKCXSTER.  349 


piety."  The  crypt  beneath  the  choir  is  a  remnant  of  Wulstan's  work,  and  the 
old  doors  of  the  cathedral,  dating-  from  the  thirteenth  century,  are  preserved 
there:  fragments  of  human  skin  are  still  seen  upon  them,  reputed  to  have  been 
that  of  a  man  who  was  flayed  for  stealing  a  holy  bell.  In  the  north  walk  of 
the  cloisters  is  the  grave-slab  famous  for  bearing  the  shortest  and  saddest 
inscription  in  England,  "  Miserrimus :"  it  is  said  to  cover  one  of  the  minor 
canons,  named  Morris,  who  declined  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  William 


RUINS    OF   THE    GUESTEN    HALL. 


III.  and  had  to  be  supported  by  alms.  Around  the  cloisters  are  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  monastery,  the  most  prominent  fragments  being  those  of  the  Cues- 
ten  Hall,  erected  in  1320.  Access  to  the  cathedral  close,  on  the  south-eastern 
side,  is  obtained  through  an  ancient  gateway  called  the  Edgar  Tower,  one  of 
the  earliest  structures  connected  with  the  cathedral,  which  is  still  fairly  pre- 
served :  it  was  evidently  intended  for  defence.  The  bishops  of  Worcester 
present  an  unbroken  line  for  twelve  centuries,  including,  in  later  days,  Latimer 
the  martyr,  Pricleaux,  and  Stillingfleet.  It  was  in  Worcester  Cathedral,  on  Oc- 
tober 23,  1687,  that  James  II.  touched  several  persons  to  cure  the  scrofula 


350 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


or  king's  evil ;  and  when  William  III.  afterwards  visited  Worcester  he  yielded 

to  sundry  entreaties  to  touch  sufferers,  but  in  doing  so  said,  "  God  give  you 

better  health  and  more 
sense !"  These  were  about 
the  last  "touchings"  known 
in  England.  Upon  James 
II. 's  visit  he  attended  mass 
at  the  Catholic  chapel,  and 
was  waited  upon  to  the  door 
by  the  mayor  and  corpora- 
tion officers,  but  they  de- 
clined to  enter  a  Roman 
Catholic  place  of  worship. 
A  minute  in  the  corpora- 
tion proceedings  explains 
that  they  passed  the  time 
until  the  service  was  over 
in  smoking  and  drinking 
at  the  Green  Dragon  Inn, 
loyally  charging  the  bill  to 
the  city.  Worcester  in  an- 
cient times  was  famous  for 
its  cloth,  but  other  places 

have  since  eclipsed  it.     It  is  now  noted  mainly  for  gloves,  fine  porcelain,  and 

Worcester  Sauce. 


'--   -    - 


CLOSE 


ESTER. 


THE    MALVERN    HILLS. 

The  broad  valley  of  the  Severn  is  bounded  on  its  western  side  by  the 
boldly-rising  Malvern  range  of  hills,  which  are  elevated  so  steeply  and  so 
suddenly  above  the  plain  that  they  produce  an  impression  of  size  and  height 
much  greater  than  they  really  possess,  and  are  more  imposing  than  many 
summits  that  far  surpass  them  in  magnitude.  There  is  reason,  therefore,  in 
Mrs.  Browning's  poetic  expression: 

"  Malvern  Hills,  for  mountains  counted 
Not  unduly,  form  a  row." 

The  Malvern  range  is  a  ridge  running  nearly  north  and  south,  with  a  series  of 
smooth,  steep  summits,  the  breadth  of  the  range  being  barely  half  a  mile. 
Their  slopes  are  of  turf  and  furze,  often  as  steep  as  the  pitched  roof  of  a 


THE  MALVERN  HILLS.  351 


house,  with  crags  projecting  here  and  there.  The  chief  summits  are  the  North 
Hill,  rising  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  above  the  Severn,  the  Worcester- 
shire Beacon,  fourteen  hundred  and  forty-four  feet,  and  the  Herefordshire 
Beacon,  thirteen  hundred  and  seventy  feet.  Their  highest  parts  are  covered 
with  verdure,  and  nearly  seventeen  hundred  different  varieties  of  plants  have 
been  found  on  the  range.  These  hills  stand  as  one  of  Nature's  bulwarks,  an 
outwork  of  the  mountain-region  of  Wales,  dividing  an  upland  from  a  lowland 
district,  each  furnishing  totally  different  characteristics.  They  were  the  bound- 
ary between  the  Romans  and  the  Britons,  and  their  summits  present  some 
remarkable  remains  of  ancient  fortifications.  The  Worcestershire  Beacon  rises 
directly  above  the  town  of  Great  Malvern,  and  south  of  it  a  fissure  called  the 
Wyche  sinks  down  to  about  nine  hundred  feet  elevation,  enabling  a  road  to  be 
carried  across  the  ridge.  Some  distance  south  of  this  there  is  an  even  lower 
depression,  by  which  the  high-road  crosses  from  Worcester  to  Hereford.  Then 
to  the  southward  is  the  Herefordshire  Beacon,  and  beyond  it  several  lower 
summits.  These  two  gaps  or  gateways  in  this  natural  wall  of  defence  are 
both  guarded  by  ancient  camps  of  unusual  strength  and  still  in  good  preserva- 
tion. One  of  these  camps  on  the  Herefordshire  Beacon,  with  ditches,  ramparts, 
and  a  keep,  encloses  forty-four  acres.  Also  on  top  of  the  ridge  are  found 
traces  of  the  ditch  that  was  dug  to  mark  the  dividing-lines  between  the  hunt- 
ing-grounds of  the  bishops  who  ruled  on  either  hand  in  Hereford  and  in  Wor- 
cester. The  bishops  in  the  olden  time  appear  to  have  been  as  keen  sportsmen 
as  the  nobles. 

The  town  of  Great  Malvern,  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  hills,  is  elevated 
five  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  and  is  in  high  repute  as  a  watering-place.  It 
had  its  origin  in  a  priory,  of  which  there  still  remains  the  fine  old  church,  with 
a  surmounting  gray  tower  and  an  entrance-gateway  which  have  escaped  the 
general  ruin  of  the  monastery.  Within  this  ancient  church  the  ornaments  of 
some  of  the  old  stalls  in  the  choir  are  very  quaint,  representing  a  man  leading 
a  bear,  a  dying  miser  handing  his  money-bags  to  the  priest  and  doctor,  and 
three  rats  solemnly  hanging  a  cat  on  a  gallows.  The  priory  was  the  nucleus 
about  which  gathered  the  town,  or,  properly  speaking,  the  towns,  for  there  are 
a  series  of  them,  all  well-known  watering-places.  Great  Malvern  has  North 
Malvern  alongside  it  and  Malvern  Link  on  the  lower  hills,  while  to  the  south- 
ward are  Malvern  Wells  and  Little  Malvern,  with  West  Malvern  over  on  the 
Hereford  side  of  the  ridge.  They  are  aggregations  of  pretty  villas,  and  the 
many  invalids  who  seek  their  relief  are  drawn  about  in  Bath-chairs  by  little 
donkeys.  The  view  from  the  Worcestershire  Beacon  is  grand,  extending  over 
a  broad  surface  in  all  directions,  for  we  are  told  that  when  the  beacon-fires 


352 


I-:. \uLAXD,   PIL'TCKKSQCE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


that  were  lighted  upon  this  elevated  ridge  warned  England  of  the  approach 
of  the  Spanish  Armada, 

"  Twelve  fair  counties  saw  the  blaze 
From   Malvern's  lonely  height." 

The  advantages  the  Malvern   range  offers  as  a  sanitarium  are  pure  air  and 

pure  water.  The 
towns  are  ele- 
vated above  the 
fogs  of  the  val- 
leys, and  the 
rainfall  is  small, 
while  both  win- 
ter's cold  and 
summer's  heat 
are  tempered. 
St.  Anne's  Well 
and  the  Holy 
Well  are  the 
great  sources 
of  pure  water. 
The  latter  is  at 
Malvern  Wells, 
and  the  former 
on  the  side  of 

the  Worcestershire  Beacon,  at  an  elevation  of  eight  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
Both  are  slightly  alkaline,  but  St.  Anne's  Well  is  the  most  famous,  and  is  taste- 
fully enclosed.  Water-cure  establishments  abound  here,  and  with  such  air, 
such  water,  and  such  magnificent  scenery  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  Malvern 
Hills  are  among  the  most  popular  resorts  of  England. 

'Ill  F.    RIVER    WYE. 

From  the  top  of  the  Malvern  Hills  the  western  view  looks  down  upon  the 
attractive  valley  of  the  river  Wye,  a  famous  stream  that  takes  its  rise  in  the 
mountains  of  Wales,  and  after  flowing  through  Herefordshire  and  Monmouth- 
shire falls  into  the  Severn.  Rising  on  the  south-eastern  side  of  Plynlimmon,  a 
group  of  three  mountains  elevated  nearly  twenty-five  hundred  feet,  it  is  one 
of  five  rivers  whose  sources  are  almost  in  the  same  spot,  but  which  flow  in 
opposite  directions — the  Llyffnant,  Rheidol,  Dyfi,  Severn,  and  Wye.  For  miles 


ST.    ANNE  S   WELL. 


Till-:  RIl'ER 


353 


it  is  a  mountain  torrent,  receiving 
other  streams,  and  flowing  east- 
ward through  Radnor  and  Breck- 
nock, where  it  is  the  resort  of  art- 
ists and  anglers.  It  passes  near 
the  burial-place  of  Llewellyn,  the 
last  native  Prince  of  Wales,  who 
died  in  1282,  and  then,  bordered 
by  railway  and  highway,  comes 
down  through  picturesque  ravines 
past  Hay  and  its  ruined  castle  in  a 
beautiful  glen  at  the  base  of  the 
Black  Mountains,  which  rise  ab- 
ruptly from  its  southern  bank. 
Near  Hay,  and  overlooking  the 
river,  are  the  ruins  of  Clifford  Cas- 
tle, which  was  the  birthplace  of 
"  Fair  Rosamond."  Here  the  Wye 
enters  Herefordshire,  the  valley 


BUTCHERS     ROW,    HEREFORD. 


OUTHOUSi: 


NELL    GWYNNE    WAS    BORN. 


broadens,  and  the  stream  gradually  leads 
us  to  the  ancient  town  of  Hereford,  stand- 
ing chiefly  on  its  northern  bank  and  in  a 
delightful  situation.  This  city  does  not 
lay  claim  to  Roman  origin,  but  it  was 
nevertheless  one  of  the  fortified  outposts 
of  England  on  the  border  of  Wales,  and 
was  often  the  scene  of  warfare.  It  was 
walled  and  vigorously  defended,  while 
hostelries  and  chapels  were  erected  for 
the  accommodation  of  pilgrims  and  other 
visitors.  Hereford  contained  the  shrines 
of  St.  Ethelbert  and  St.  Thomas  Cante- 
lupe,  but  its  chief  relic  of  antiquity  is  the 
house  that  remains  of  the  "old  Butchers' 
Row,"  which  was  originally  a  large  and 
irregular  cluster  of  wooden  buildings 
placed  nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  locality 


354 


E.\\;LAND.  PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


known  as  the  High  Town.  All  but  one  of  these  houses  have  been  taken 
clown,  and  the  one  that  remains  shows  window-frames,  doors,  stairs,  and  floors 
all  made  of  thick  and  solid  masses  of  timber,  apparently  constructed  to  last 
for  ages.  A  shield  over  one  of  the  doors  bears  a  boar's  head  and  three  bulls' 
heads,  having  two  winged  bulls  for  supporters  and  another  bull  for  a  crest. 
On  other  parts  are  emblems  of  the  slaughter-house,  such  as  ropes,  rings,  and 


HEREFORD    CATHEDRAL. 


axes.  Thus  did  our  English  ancestors  caricature  the  imaginary  dignity  of 
heraldry.  This  attractive  old  house  is  a  relic  of  the  days  of  James  I.  Nell 
Gwynne  was  born  in  Hereford,  and  the  small  cottage  in  Pipe  Lane  which  was 
her  birthplace  has  only  recently  been  pulled  down.  It  was  a  little  four-roomed 
house,  and  an  outhouse  opening  on  the  Wye,  which  was  standing  in  poor 
Nelly's  days,  remains.  Hereford  Cathedral  is  a  fine  Norman  structure,  begun 
in  the  eleventh  century  and  recently  restored.  The  most  imposing  portion 
of  the  interior  is  the  north  transept,  which  was  built  to  receive  the  shrine  of 
Cantelupe.  The  remains  of  the  Black  Friars'  monastery  are  in  the  Widemarsh 


THE   MAN  OF  A' OSS. 


355 


suburb.  They  consist  chiefly  of  an  inter- 
esting relic  of  that  religious  order,  an  hex- 
agonal preaching-cross  standing  on  a  flight 
of  steps  and  open  on  each  side.  Here- 
ford Castle  has  disappeared,  but  its  site  is 
an  attractive  public  walk  overlooking  the 
Wye,  called  the  Castle  Green. 


TIIF.    MAN    OF    ROSS. 

The  Wye  Hows  on  through  a  fairly  open 
valley,  with  broad  meadows  extending  from 
the  bases  of  the  wooded  hills  to  the  river. 
On  approaching  Ross  the  meadows  contract, 
the  hills  come  nearer  together,  and  the  new 
phase  of  scenery  in  the  glen  which  here 
begins  makes  the  Wye  the  most  beautiful 
among  English  rivers.  Ross  stands  at  the 
entrance  to  the  glen,  built  upon  a  sloping  hill 
which  descends  steeply  to  the  Wye.  It  was  the  Ariconium  of  the  Romans, 
and  has  been  almost  without  stirring  history.  It  has  grown  in  all  these  cen- 
turies to  be  a  town  of  about  four  thousand  five  hundred  population,  with  con- 
siderable trade,  being  the  centre  of  a  rich  agricultural  section,  and  is  chiefly 


OLD  NAVE,  HEREFORD  CATHEDRAL. 


known  to  fame  as  the  home  of  Pope's  "  Man  of  Ross."  This  was  John  Kyrle, 
who  was  born  at  the  village  of  Dymock,  not  far  away,  May  22,  1637.  He  was 
educated  at  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  where  they  still  preserve  a  piece  of  plate 
which  he  presented  as  a  parting  gift.  He  afterwards  settled  at  Ross,  and  lived 
to  an  advanced  age,  dying  November  11,  1724.  He  was  described  as  "nearly 


E.\\;LAND,  PICTURESQUE  AXD  DESCRIPTIVE. 


six  feet  high,  strong  anil  lusty  made,  jolly  and  ruddy  in  the  face,  with  a  large 
nose."      His    claim    to  immortality,  which    has    made:    his    name    a    household 


HOUSE   OF   THE    "  MAN    OF    ROSS." 


word    in    England,    cannot    better    be    described    than    by    quoting    some    of 
Pope's  lines  : 


"  Who  hung  with  woods  yon   mountain's  sultry  brow  ? 
From  the  dry  soil  who  bade  the  waters  How  ?  .   .   .   . 
Whose  causeway  parts  the  vale  with  shady  row*  .' 
Whose  seats  the  weary  traveller  repose  ? 
Who  taught  that  heaven-directed  spire  to  rise  ? 

'The  Man  of  Ross,'  each  lisping  babe  replies. 
Behold  the  market-place  with  poor  o'erspread  ! 
The  Man  of  Ross  divides  the  weekly  bread  : 
He  feeds  yon  almshouse,  neat,  but  void  of  state, 
Where  age  and  want  sit  smiling  at  the  gate: 
Him  portioned  maids,  apprenticed  orphans  blest, 
The  young  who  labor,  and  the  old  who  rest. 
Is  any  sick?     The  Man  of  Ross  relieves, 
Prescribes,  attends,  the  med'cinc  makes  and  gives. 


TtfE   MAX  OF  ROSS. 


357 


Is  there  a  variance?     Enter  but  his  door. 

Balked  are  the  courts  and  contest  is  no  more 

Thrice  happy  man  !   enabled  to  pursue 

What  all  so  wish,  but  want  the  power  to  do  .' 

Oh  say  what  sums  that  generous  hand  supply, 

What  mines  to  swell  that  boundless  charity  ? 

Of  debts  and  taxes,  wife  and  children,  clear, 

That  man  possessed —five  hundred  pounds  a  year!" 

It  is  not  often  that  a  man  can  do  so  much  to  benefit  his  townsfolk  out  of  the 
modest  income  of  $2500  a  year;   and  not  only  Pope,  but  Coleridge  also,  has 
found  this  a  theme  for  verse.     The  house  in  which  the  "  Man  of  Ross"  lived 
is  on   the  left-hand   side  of  the   market-place,  and  still  stands,   though  much 
changed.      It  is  now  a  drug-store  and  a  dwelling.     The  floors  and  panelling  of 
several  of  the  chambers  are  of  oak,  while  a  quaint  opening  leads  to  a  narrow 
corridor  and  into  a  small  room,  which  tradition  says  was  his  bedroom,  where 
he  endured  his  last  and  only 
illness,  and  died.     The  bed- 
room   looks    out    upon    his 
garden,     divided     like     the 
house,  one-half  being  con- 
verted into  a  bowling-green. 
The  surrounding  walls  are 
overrun  with  vines  and  bor- 
dered  by   pear    trees.     On 
the  other  side  of  the  mar- 
ket-place  is    the    town-hall, 
standing    on    an    eminence 
and     facing     the     principal 
street,  which  comes  up  from 
the    river-bank.      This   hall 
is     somewhat      dilapidated, 
though  still  in  daily  use,  and 
is   supported   on   crumbling 
pillars    of    red     sandstone. 
Ross  is    chiefly  built    upon 
the   slope   of  a   hill,   termi- 
nating in  a  plateau,  one  side  MARKET-PLACE,  ROSS. 
of  which  the  Wye,  flowing  through  a  horseshoe  bend,  has  scarped  out  into  a 
river-cliff.     Upon  this  plateau  stands  the  little  Ross  Church  with  its  tall  spire, 
a  striking  building  in  a  singularly  fortunate  situation.     The  churchyard,  with 


358 


EXGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


an  adjoining  public  garden  called  the  Prospect,  extends  to  the  brow  of  the  cliff. 

The  church  is  cruciform,  and  its  spire  the  landmark  for  the  surrounding 

country.  It  was  built  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  but  is  without  architectural  fea- 
tures. The  "  Man  of 
Ross  "  rests  within  its 
walls,  buried  near  the 
altar  under  a  blue  slab. 
His  memory  is  the  most 
cherished  remem- 
brance of  Ross,  and  is 
mellowed  as  the  ages 
pass.  His  fireside 
chair  stands  in  the 
chancel,  and  they  also 
show  a  book  contain- 
ing his  autograph.  A 
tablet  to  his  memory  is 
inserted  in  the  wall, 
erected  by  a  distant 
relative,  Lady  Betty 
ROSS  CHURCH.  Dupplin,  for  it  is  said, 

as  is  usually  the  case,  that  his  good  deeds 

excited  more  enthusiasm  in  strangers  than 

among   the   people    whom    he    benefited. 

Within  the  church,  in  front  of  a  window, 

two   trees  are  growing,  another  indirect 

and  posthumous  memorial  of  the  "  Man 

of    Ross."       They    appeared    about    fifty 

years  ago,  and  the  story  is  that  a  rector 

of  the  parish  had  cut  down  a  tree  on  the 

outside  of  the  wall   which  the  "  Man  of 

Ross"  had  originally  planted,  whereupon 

these  suckers  made  their  appearance  with- 
in the  building  and  asserted  the  vitality  of 

the  parent  tree.    They  shot  up  against  the 

seat  which  is  said  to  have  been  his  favor- 
ite one,  and  though  at  first  objected  to, 

the  church-wardens  bowed  to  the  inevita-  THE  TREES  IN  ROSS  CHURCH. 


i 


GOODRICH  CASTLE  AND   SYMOND'S    VAT. 


359 


ble,  and  they  are  now  among  the  most  prized  relics  within  the  church.  The 
public  garden  (the  Prospect)  adjoining  the  churchyard  was  another  benefaction 
of  the  "  Man  of  Ross,"  and  with  some  private  houses  and  a  hotel  it  crowns  the 
summit  of  the  plateau.  Here  the  hand  of  the  "  Man  of  Ross  "  again  appears 
in  a  row  of  noble  elms  around  the  churchyard  which  he  is  said  to  have  planted, 
some  of  them  of  great  size.  The  view  from  the  Prospect,  however,  is  the 
town's  chief  present  glory.  It  stands  on  the  brink  of  the  river-cliff,  with  the 
Wye  sweeping  at  its  feet  around  the  apex  of  the  long  horseshoe  curve.  Within 
the  curve  is  the  grassy  Oak  Meadow  dotted  with  old  trees.  On  either  hand 
are  meadows  and  cornfields,  with  bits  of  wood,  and  the  Welsh  hills  rise  in  the 
distance. 

GOODRICH    CASTLE    AND    SYMOND'S    YAT. 

The  Wye  flows  on  through  its  picturesque   glen   towards  Monmouth,  the 
water  bubbling  with  a  strong  current.     A  raised  causeway  carries  the  road 
to  Monmouth  over 
the  meadows.     On 
the  right  hand  are 
the  ruins  of  Wilton 
Castle,  built  in  Ste- 
phen's   reign,    and 


RUINS    OF   GOODRICH    CASTLE. 


burned   in  the   Civil  War.      Tourists  go  by   small   boats  floated  on   the  cur- 
rent down   the  Wye,  and   the   boats  are   hauled  back  on  donkey-carts,  little 


360 


ENGLAND,  PfCTURESQL'J-:  .l.Y/>    DESCR I1TIVE. 


trains  of  them  being  seen  creeping  along  the  Monmouth  road.  From 
Ross  to  Monmouth  the  river  Hows  through  a  region  of  rolling  hills,  with 
abrupt  declivities  where  the  rapid  stream  has  scarped  the  margin  into  cliffs 
and  ridges.  The  valley  narrows,  and  the  very  crooked  river  Hows  through 
bewitching  scenery  until  by  another  great  horseshoe  bend  it  winds  around 
the  ruins  of  Goodrich  Castle,  reared  upon  a  wooded  cliff,  with  Goodrich 
Court  near  by.  The  latter  is  a  modern  imitation  of  a  mediaeval  dwelling, 
constructed  according  to  the  erratic  whims  of  a  recent  owner.  This  Court 
once  contained  the  finest  collection  of  ancient  armor  in  England,  but  most  of 


A    BEND    OF   THE    RIVER.    WYE. 


it  has  been  transferred  to  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  Goodrich  Castle 
was  once  a  formidable  fortress,  and  it  elates  from  the  reign  of  Stephen.  Here 
it  was  that  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  '•  entrenched  in  a  stockade  of 
wood,  Goderic  de  Winchcomb  held  the  ford  "  over  the  Wye,  and  gave  the  place 
his  name.  It  grew  in  strength  until  the  Civil  War,  when  Sir  Richard  Lingen 
held  it  for  the  king.  This  was  a  memorable  contest,  lasting  six  weeks,  during 
which  the  besiegers  belabored  it  with  the  best  battering-cannon  they  could  pro- 
cure, and  used  up  eighty  barrels  of  gunpowder  voted  by  Parliament  for  the 
purpose.  Then  the  defenders  demanded  a  parley,  but  the  assailants,  angry 
at  being  so  long  baulked  of  their  prey,  insisted  upon  unconditional  surrender. 
Afterwards  the  castle  was  demolished,  but  the  fine  old  keep  remains  in  good 
preservation,  commanding  a  grand  view  over  the  winding  valley  of  the  Wye 
and  to  the  Forest  of  Dean  in  one  direction  and  the  Malvern  Hills  in  another. 
The  ruins  are  of  a  quadrangular  fortress,  and  within  the  courtyard  Words- 
worth once  met  the  child  whose  prattle  suggested  his  familiar  poem,  "We  are 
Seven."  Little  now  remains  of  Goodrich  Priory,  but  the  parish  church  of  the 


GOODRICH   CASTLE   AM~>   SYMOXD'S    Y.IT. 


361 


village  can  be  seen  afar  off,  and  contains  a  chalice  presented  by  Dean  Swiit. 
whose  grandfather,  Thomas  Swift,  was  once  its  rector. 

Below  Goodrich  this  wayward  river  makes  an  enormous  loop,  wherein  it 
goes  wandering  about  for  eight  miles  and  accomplishes  just  one  mile's  dis- 
tance. Here  it  becomes  a  boundary  between  the  two  Bickner  villages — Welsh 
Bickner  and  English  Bickner.  To  the  eastward  is  the  Forest  of  Dean,  cover- 
ing over  twenty-six  thousand  acres,  and  including  extensive  coal-pits  and  iron- 
works, the  smoke  from  the  latter  overhanging  the  valley.  The  river-channel 
is  dug  deeply  into  the  limestone  rocks,  whose  fissured  and  ivy-clad  cliffs  rise 
high  above  the 
water,  varied 
by  occasional 
green  mead- 
ows, where  cat- 
tle are  feeding. 
The  river 
bends  sharply 
to  the  west- 
ward past  the 
crags  at  Cold- 
well,  and  then 
doubles  back 
upon  its  former 
course.  This 
second  bend  is 
around  a  high 

limestone  plateau  which  is  the  most  singular  feature  of  the  beautiful  glen. 
The  river  sweeps  in  an  elongated  loop  of  about  five  miles,  and  returns  to  within 
eighteen  hundred  feet  of  its  former  channel,  and  the  plateau  rises  six  hundred 
feet  to  the  apex  of  the  headland  that  mounts  guard  over  the  grand  curve — the 
famous  Symond's  Yat.  On  the  top  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  British  fort, 
and  rocks,  woods,  fields,  and  meadows  slope  down  to  the  river  on  almost  every 
side,  making  a  bewitching  scene.  It  was  here  that  the  Northman  Vikings  in 
91 1  fortified  themselves  after  they  landed  on  the  Severn  and  penetrated  through 
the  Forest  of  Dean.  They  were  led  by  Kric  in  quest  of  plunder,  and  captured 
a  bishop,  who  was  afterwards  ransomed  for  two  hundred  dollars.  Their  foray 
roused  the  people,  who  besieged  the  Vikings,  forming  a  square  encampment 
which  commanded  their  fortification,  and  remains  of  which  are  still  visible. 
They  drove  the  Vikings  out  with  their  hail  of  arrows,  and  punished  them  so 


IX    SY.MOXD  S    YAT. 


362  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


terribly  that  the  defile  down  which  they  fled  is  still  known  as  "  The  Slaughter." 
The  remnant  who  escaped  afterwards  surrendered  on  condition  of  being  allowed 
to  quit  the  country,  and  their  experience  had  such  wholesome  influence  that  no 
Vikings  came  that  way  afterwards. 

The  Wye  next  bends  around  two  bold  limestone  hills  known  as  the  Great 
and  the  Little  Doward,  each  surmounted  by  ancient  encampments,  where 
arrowheads  and  other  relics,  not  to  forget  the  bones  of  a  giant,  have  been 
found.  In  fact,  bones  seem  to  be  a  prolific  product  of  this  region,  for  the 
"  bone-caves  "  of  the  Dowards  produce  the  relics  of  many  animals  long  van- 
ished from  the  kingdom,  and  also  disclose  rude  weapons  of  Hint,  showing  that 
the  primitive  races  of  men  were  here  with  them.  Beds  of  stalagmites,  sand, 
and  gravel  covered  these  relics,  deposited  by  an  ancient  stream  which  geol- 
ogists say  flowed  three  hundred  feet  above  the  present  bed  of  the  Wye.  Then 
we  come  to  the  richly-wooded  deer-park  of  the  Leys  with  its  exquisite  views, 
and  here  the  wildly  romantic  scenery  is  gradually  subdued  into  a  more  open 
valley  and  a  straighter  stream  as  the  Wye  flows  on  towards  Monmouth.  The 
parts  of  the  river  just  described  are  not  more  renowned  for  their  beauty,  though 
considered  the  finest  in  England,  than  for  their  salmon,  and  we  are  told  that 
three  men  with  a  net  have  been  known  to  catch  a  ton  of  salmon  in  a  day, 
while  the  fishery-rights  are  let  at  over  $100,000  annually. 

MONMOUTH. 

The  beautiful  valley,  with  its  picturesque  scenery,  expands  somewhat  as  the 
Wye  approaches  its  junction  with  the  river  Monnow  and  flows  through  a  suc- 
cession of  green  meadows.  Here,  between  the  two  rivers  on  a  low  spur,  a 
prolongation  of  their  bordering  hills,  stands  Monmouth,  its  ancient  suburbs 
spreading  across  the  Monnow.  From  the  market-place,  the  chief  street  of 
the  town  leads  clown  to  these  suburbs,  crossing  over  an  old-time  bridge.  The 
town  has  its  church  and  the  ruins  of  a  priory,  while  perched  on  a  cliff  over- 
looking the  Monnow  is  its  castle,  displaying  rather  extensive  but  not  very 
attractive  remains.  John  of  Monmouth  is  said  to  have  built  this  castle  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  Here  also  lived  at  one  time  John  of  Gaunt  and  his  son, 
Harry  Hereford,  who  afterwards  became  Henry  IV.,  and  the  latter's  son,  Harry 
Monmouth,  was  born  in  this  old  castle,  growing  up  to  become  the  wild  "Prince 
Hal,"  and  afterwards  the  victor  at  Agincourt.  They  still  show  a  narrow  win- 
dow, with  remains  of  tracery,  as  marking  the  room  in  which  he  first  saw  the 
light.  Thus  has  "  Prince  Hal "  become  the  patron  of  Monmouth,  and  his  statue 
stands  in  front  of  the  town-hall,  representing  the  king  in  full  armor,  and  in- 
scribed, "  Henry  V.,  born  at  Monmouth  August  9,  1387,"  but  it  is  not  regarded 


MONMOUTH. 


363 


MOXMOUTH    BRIDGE. 

as  remarkable  for  its  artistic  finish.  The  remains  o»  the  old  priory  are  utilized 
for  a  school.  It  was  founded  by  the  Benedictines  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  and 
in  it  lived  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth,  a  familiar  author  in 
days  when  books  were  few. 
He  was  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's 
in  the  year  1 152,  and  wrote 
his  History  of  the  Britons, 
wherein  he  combined  all  the 
fables  of  the  time  so  ingeni- 
ously with  the  truth  that  they 
became  alike  history.  Out 
of  his  imagination  grew  the 
tale  of  the  "  Round  Table  " 
and  its  knights. 

Upon  the  old  bridge  cross- 
ing the  Monnow  stands  an 
ancient  gate-house,  con- 
structed in  the  style  that 
prevailed  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  but  it  is  doubtful 
if  this  was  a  military  work, 
its  probable  use  being  the 


GATE   ON    MONMOUTH    BRIDGE. 


364 


J-:.\I;I..LVD, 


collection  of  tolls  on  the  produce  brought  into  the  town.  It  is  pierced  with 
postern  arches  for  the  foot-passengers,  and  still  retains  the  place  for  its  port- 
cullis. All  around  the  Momnouth  market-place  are  the  old  houses  where  the 
celebrated  Monmouth  caps  were  made  that  were  so  popular  in  old  times,  and 

of  which  Fluellen  spoke  when 
he  told  Henry  V.,  "If  Your 
Majesty  is  remembered  of  it, 
the  Welshmen  did  good  ser- 
vice in  a  garden  where  leeks 
did  grow,  wearing  leeks  in 
their  Monmouth  caps."  Mon- 
mouth is  not  a  large  town, 
having  but  six  thousand  in- 
habitants, but  it  takes  a  mayor, 
four  aldermen,  two  bailiffs, 
and  twelve  councillors  to  gov- 
ern them,  and  its  massive 
county-jail  is  a  solid  warning 
to  all  evil-doers.  From  the 
summit  of  the  lofty  Kymin 
Hill,  rising  seven  hundred 
feet  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  town,  there  is  a  grand 
panorama  over  the  valley  of 
the  Wye.  This  hill  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  pavilion  ami 
temple,  built  in  1800  to  re- 
cord the  naval  victories  of 
England  in  the  American 
wars.  Farther  down  the 
valley  was  the  home  of  the 
late  Lord  Raglan,  and  here  are  the  ruins  of  Raglan  Castle,  built  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  For  ten  weeks  in  the  Civil  War  the  venerable  Marquis  of  Worces- 
ter held  this  castle  against  Fairfax's  siege,  but  the  redoubtable  old  hero,  who 
was  aged  eighty-four,  ultimately  had  to  surrender. 

TINTERN    AT,  BEY    AND    CHEI'STOW    CASTLE. 

The  Wye  at  Monmouth  also  receives  the  Trothy  River,  and  the  confluence 
of  the  three  valleys  makes  a  comparatively  open  basin,  which,  however,  again 


RAGLAN   CASTLE. 


TIXTERN  ABBEY  AND    CHEPSTOW  CASTLE. 


365 


narrows  into  another  romantic  glen  a  short  distance  below  the  town.  Wild 
woods  border  the  steep  hills,  and  the  Wye  flows  through  the  western  border 
of  the  Forest  of  Dean,  an  occasional  village  attesting  the  mineral  wealth  by  its 
blackened  chimneys.  Here,  below  Redbrook,was  the  home  of  Admiral  Rooke, 
who  captured  Gibraltar  in  1704,  and  farther  down  are  the  ruins  of  the  castle 
of  St.  Briard,  built  in  the  days  of  Henry  I.  to  check  Welsh  forays.  Here  lived 
the  lord  warden  of  the  Forest  of  Dean,  and  for  three  centuries  every  Whit- 
Sunday  they  held  the  annual  "scramble"  in  the  church.  It  appears  that  a  tax 
of  one  penny  was  levied  on  every  person  who  pastured  his  cattle  on  the  com- 
mon, and  the  amount  thus  raised  was  expended  for  bread  and  cheese.  The 
church  was  crowded,  and  the  clerk  standing  in  the  gallery  threw  out  the  edibles 
to  the  struggling  congregation  below.  The  railway  closely  hugs  the  swiftly- 
flowing  river  in  its  steep  and  narrow  glen  as  we  pass  Offa's  Dyke  and  Chair 
and  the  Moravian  village  of  Brockweir.  Here  the  line  of  fortifications  crossed 
the  valley  which  the  king  of  Mercia  constructed  to  protect  his  dominions.  The 
valley  then  slightly  expands,  and  the  green  sward  is  clotted  by  the  houses  of 
the  long  and  scattered  village  of  Tintern  Parva.  The  river  sharply  bends,  and 

in   the   tflen   on   the 
^ 

western  side  stand 
the  ruins  of  the  far- 
famed  Tintern  Ab- 
bey in  the  green 
meadows  at  the 
brink  of  the  Wye. 
The  spot  is  well 
chosen,  for  nowhere 
along  this  celebrated 
river  has  Nature  in- 
dicated a  better  place 
for  quiet,  heavenly 
meditation  not  un- 
mixed with  earthly 
comforts. 

Walter  de  Clare  founded  Tintern  Abbey  in  1131  for  the  Cistercian  monks, 
and  dedicated  it  to  St.  Mary.  It  was  built  upon  an  ancient  battlefield  where  a 
Christian  prince  of  Glamorgan  had  been  slain  by  the  heathen,  but  of  the  build- 
ings erected  by  De  Clare  none  now  exist,  the  present  remains  being  of  later 
date,  and  the  abbey  church  that  is  now  in  ruin  was  erected  by  Roger  Bigod, 
Duke  of  Norfolk.  It  is  a  magnificent  relic  of  the  Decorated  period.  The 


TINTERN    ABBEY. 


66 


vaulted  roof  and  central  tower  are  gone,  but  the  arches  which  supported  the 
latter  rdmain.  The  row  of  columns  on  the  northern  side  of  the  nave  have 
fallen,  with  the  clerestory  above  them,  but  the  remainder  of  the  structure  has 
suffered  little  damage.  The  western  front,  with  its  noble  window  and  exquis- 
ite tracery,  is  very  fine.  Ivy  and  ferns  overrun  the  walls  and  form  a  coping, 
while  green  sward  has  replaced  the  pavement,  so  that  it  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  a  more  enchanting  ruin,  and  as  such  Tintern  is  renowned  the  world 
over.  Lord  I  loughton  has  written  : 

"The  men  who  called   their  passion  piety, 
And  wrecked  this  noble  argosy  of  faith,  — 
They  little  thought  how  beauteous  could  be  death, 
How  fair  the  face  of  time's  aye-deepening  sea. 
Nor  arms  that  desolate,   nor  years  that  flee, 
Nor  hearts  that  fail,  can  utterly  deflower 
This  grassy  floor  of  sacramental  power 
Where  we  now  stand  communicants." 

Tintern  Abbey  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  long.  It  had  no  triforium, 
and  the  clerestory  windows  are  rather  large.  The  great  east  window  was  even 
more  elaborate  than  the  western,  but  all  of  it  has  fallen  excepting  the  central 
mullion  and  the  stronger  portion  of  the  tracery  which  branches  out  on  either 
side  from  it.  There  yet  remain  in  the  building  a  few  tiles  with  heraldic  emblems, 
some  broken  monuments,  and  some  heaps  of  choice  carvings,  shattered  as  they 
fell,  but  afterwards  collected  and  piled  against  the  walls.  The  Duke  of  Beau- 
fort, to  whose  estate  it  belongs,  has  done  everything  possible  to  arrest  decay, 
and  all  is  kept  in  perfect  order.  A  door  leads  out  of  the  southern  transept  to 
a  few  fragments  of  buildings  in  the  fields  on  that  side,  but  most  of  the  convent 
was  on  the  northern  side,  where  its  ruins  surround  a  grass-grown  quadrangle. 
A  cloister  once  ran  around  it;  on  the  eastern  side  is  the  chapter-house,  with 
the  dormitory  above,  and  on  the  western  side  the  remains  of'  the  abbot's  lodg- 
ings and  the  guest-chambers  have  been  converted  into  cottages.  The  refec- 
tory and  guest-hall  are  to  the  northward,  with  ruins  of  the  octagonal  columns 
that  supported  the  roof.  Such  is  this  magnificent  relic  of  the  Cistercians,  and 
yet  it  is  but  one  of  seventy-six  abbeys  that  they  possessed  before  Henry  VIII. 
dissolved  them.  From  the  high-road  down  the  valley  of  the  Wye,  which  skirts 
the  green  meadows  along  its  southern  face,  is  the  best  view  of  the  abbey,  and 
the  ruddy  gray  stone  ruins,  with  the  grassy  fields  and  the  background  of 
wooded  hills  beyond  the  broad  river,  make  up  a  picture  that  cannot  easily  be 
forgotten.  Yet  Tintern  is  most  beautiful  of  all  when  the  full  moon  rising  over 
the  eastern  hills  pours  a  flood  of  light  through  the  broken  east  window  to  the 
place  where  once  stood  the  high  altar. 


TINTERN  AfifiEY  AND    CHEPSTOW  CASTLE.  367 


The  valley  of  the  Wye  again  broadens,  and  the  river  flows  in  graceful  curves 
through  the  meadows,  guarded  on  either  hand  by  cliffs  and  woods.  The  river 
is  here  a  tidal-stream,  having  a  rise  of  twelve  feet,  so  that  it  is  now  a  strong 
current,  flowing  full  and  swift  between  grassy  banks,  and  anon  is  a  shrunken 
creek,  fringed  by  broad  borders  of  mud.  The  railway  on  the  eastern  bank 
runs  over  the  meadows  and  through  occasional  tunnels  in  the  spurs  of  the 
cliffs.  The  high-road  climbs  the  hill  on  the  western  bank,  known  as  the  Wyne- 
cliff,  from  the  top  of  which  there  is  a  grand  view  over  the  valley  and  to  the 
southward  towards  and  beyond  Chepstow.  This  cliff  rises  nine  hundred  feet 
above  the  river,  and  is  the  great  monarch  of  a  realm  of  crags  that  poke  up  their 
heads  in  all  directions.  Across  the  Wye,  on  a  tongue  of  land  projecting  into 
the  stream.  Sir  John  Wyntour  in  the  Civil  War,  with  one  hundred  and  eighty 
Royalists,  hastily  built  a  fort  to  command  the  river.  Before  their  intrench- 
ments  were  complete  the  enemy  in  superior  force  attacked  and  completely 
routed  them  ;  but  twenty  escaped,  and  Wyntour,  cutting  his  way  through  the 
assailants'  lines,  took  refuge  in  the  beetling  crags  behind  known  as  the  Tiden- 
ham  Rocks.  The  cavalry  pursued  him,  when  he  forced  his  horse  down  a  part 
somewhat  less  precipitous  than  the  rest,  reached  the  bank  in  safety,  and  escaped 
by  swimming  his  horse  over  the  river.  The  precipice  is  still  known  as  Wyn- 
tour's  Leap.  Below,  the  Wye  flows  through  Chepstow,  with  iron  bridges  span- 
ning it  to  carry  the  road  and  railway  across.  The  main  part  of  the  town  on 
the  western  part  is  built  upon  a  slope  that  in  places  descends  somewhat  rapidly 
to  the  river.  Parts  of  the  old  walls  are  still  preserved,  strengthened  at  intervals 
by  round  towers.  Chepstow  has  its  ruined  church,  once  a  priory,  within  which 
Henry  Marten  the  regicide  was  buried  after  twenty  years'  imprisonment  in 
the  castle. 

The  great  point  of  interest  is  Chepstow  Castle,  built  here  to  command  the 
Wye,  and  standing  in  a  fine  situation  on  the  edge  of  the  river  in  a  naturally 
fortified  position.  Upon  the  land-side  deep  trenches  and  outworks  protect  it, 
while  a  grassy  meadow  intervenes  between  its  gateway  and  the  Wye,  that  here 
makes  a  sharp  curve.  To  get  the  castle  in  between  the  crags  and  the  river,  it 
was  constructed  upon  a  long  and  narrow  plan,  and  is  divided  into  four  courts. 
The  main  entrance  on  the  eastern  side  is  through  a  ponderous  gateway  flanked 
by  solid  towers  and  with  curiously-constructed  ancient  wooden  doors.  Enter- 
ing the  court,  there  is  a  massive  tower  on  the  left  hand  with  an  exterior  stair- 
case turret,  while  on  the  right  the  custodian  lives  in  a  group  of  comparatively 
modern  buildings,  beneath  which  is  a  vaulted  chamber  communicating  with  the 
river.  Within  this  tower,  whose  walls  are  of  great  thickness,  Henry  Marten 
was  imprisoned.  He  was  one  of  the  court  that  tried  King  Charles,  and  his 


368 


EXGLAND,    PICl'l'RESnUE  A\U)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


signature  is  upon  the  king's  death-warrant.  He  was  a  spendthrift,  and  after- 
wards had  a  quarrel  with  Cromwell,  who  denounced  him  as  an  unbeliever, 
and  even  as  a  buffoon.  When  Charles  II.  made  the  proclamation  of  amnesty, 
Marten  surrendered,  but  he  was  tried  and  condemned  to  death.  He  plead 
that  he  came  in  under  the  proffer  of  mercy,  and  the  sentence  was  com- 
muted to  a  life  imprisonment;  and  after  a  short  confinement  in  the  Tower 
of  London  he  was  removed  to  Chepstow,  where  he  died  twenty  years  later, 
in  1680.  Passing  into  the  smaller  second  court,  for  the  rocks  contract 

O 

it,  there  is  a  strong  tower  protecting  its  entrance,  and  at  the  upper  end 
are  the  ruins  of  the  great  hall,  relics  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Two  or 
three  windows,  a  door,  and  part  of  an  arcade  remain,  but  roof  and 

flooraregone.  A 
still  smaller  court 
lies  beyond,  at 
the  upper  end  of 
which  is  a  gate- 
way defended  by 
a  moat,  beyond 
which  is  the 
western  gate  and 
court  of  the  cas- 
tle, so  that  this 
last  enclosure 
forms  a  kind  of 
barbican.  Chep- 
stow was  elab- 
oratelydefended, 
and  its  only  vul- 
CHEPSTOW  CASTLE.  .  nerable  points 

were  from  the  meadows  on  the  east  and  the  higher  ground  to  the  west;  but  before 
the  days  of  artillery  it  was  regarded  as  impregnable,  and  excellently  performed 
its  duty  as  a  check  upon  the  Welsh.  Fitzosbern,  Karl  of  Hereford,  built  the  older 
parts  in  the  eleventh  century,  but  the  most  of  Chepstow  dates  from  that  great 
epoch  of  castle-building  on  the  Welsh  border,  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  We  are 
told  that  the  second  Fitzosbern  was  attainted  and  his  estates  forfeited,  but  that 
the  king  one  Faster  graciously  sent  to  him  in  prison  his  royal  robes.  The  earl 
so  disdained  the  favor  that  he  burned  them,  which  made  the  king  so  angry  that 
he  said,  "  Certainly  this  is  a  very  proud  man  who  hath  thus  abused  me,  but,  by 
the  brightness  of  God,  he  shall  never  come  out  of  prison  so  long  as  I  live." 


THE   GOLDEN   VALLEY.  369 


Whereupon,  says  Dugdale,  who  tells  the  tale,  he  remained  a  prisoner  until  he 
died.  Chepstow  was  then  bestowed  upon  the  De  Clares,  who  founded  Tintern 
Abbe)-,  and  it  afterwards  passed  by  marriage  to  the  Bigod  family.  Chepstow 
in  the  Civil  War  \vas  held  for  the  king,  and  surrendered  to  the  Parliamentary 
troops.  Soon  afterwards  it  was  surprised  at  the  western  gate  and  retaken. 
Cromwell  then  besieged  it,  but,  the  siege  proving  protracted,  he  left  Colonel 
Ewer  in  charge.  The  Royalist  garrison  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men 
were  reduced  to  great  extremity  and  tried  to  escape  by  a  boat,  but  in  this  they 
were  disappointed,  as  one  of  the  besiegers,  watching  his  opportunity,  swam 
across  the  Wye  with  a  knife  in  his  teeth  and  cut  the  boat  adrift.  Then  the 
castle  was  assaulted  and  taken,  and  the  commander  and  most  of  the  garrison 
slain.  Parliament  gave  it  to  Cromwell,  but  after  the  Restoration  it  was  returned 
to  the  heirs  of  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  its  owner,  and  it  still  belongs  to  his 
descendant,  the  Duke  of  Beaufort.  The  neighborhood  of  Chepstow  has  many 
pleasant  villas  in  beautiful  sites,  and  the  broadening  Wye  flows  a  short  distance 
beyond  through  the  meadow-land,  and  then  debouches  into  the  estuary  of  the 
Severn. 

THE    GOLDEN    VALLEY. 

Still  journeying  westward  beyond  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Wye,  we  will 
ascend  its  tributary,  the  Monnow,  to  its  sources  in  the  Black  Mountains  on  the 
borders  of  W7ales.  We  skirted  along  the  northern  side  of  these  mountains 
with  the  Wye,  while  the  Monnow  takes  us  fairly  into  them.  The  little  river 
Dore  is  one  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Monnow,  and  it  flows  through  the  pic- 
turesque region  known  as  the  Golden  Valley,  just  on  the  edge  of  Brecon,  where 
the  trout-fishing  is  as  attractive  as  the  scenery.  All  its  streams  rise  upon  the 
flanks  of  the  Black  Mountains,  and  the  village  of  Pontrilas  is  its  railway-station 
at  the  entrance  to  the  valley.  This  village  is  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of 
naphtha,  for  which  purpose  mules  bring  wood  from  the  neighboring  forests,  and 
it  was  once  honored  with  the  presence  of  a  hotel.  This  was  its  principal  man- 
sion, Pontrilas  Court,  but  it  has  long  since  been  converted  into  a  private  resi- 
dence. This  court  is  a  characteristic  Elizabethan  mansion,  standing  in  a 
beautiful  garden  almost  smothered  in  foliage  and  running  vines.  About  a 
mile  up  the  valley  is  the  pretty  village  of  Ewias  Harold,  with  its  church  on 
one  sloping  bank  of  the  little  river  and  its  castle  on  the  other.  Within  the 
church  alongside  the  chancel  there  is  a  recumbent  female  figure  holding  a 
casket  in  its  hands.  The  tomb  upon  which  it  is  placed  was  some  time  ago 
opened,  but  nothing  was  found  within  excepting  a  case  containing  a  human 
heart.  The  monument  probably  commemorates  an  unknown  benefactress 
4; 


370 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


whose  corpse  lies  elsewhere,  but  who  ordered  her  heart  sent  to  the  spot  she 
loved  best.  The  castle,  standing  on  an  eminence,  was  once  a  strong  fortress, 
and  tradition  says  it 
was  built  by  Harold 
before  he  was  king, 
but  it  does  not  oc- 
cupy a  prominent 
place  in  history.  As- 
cending a  hill  to  the 
northward,  a  view  is 
obtained  over  the  val- 
leys of  the  three  pic- 
turesque streams — 
the  Dore,  Dulas,  and 
Monnow — that  after- 
wards  unite  their 
waters;  and,  pro- 
ceeding up  the  Dore, 
we  come  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Abbey  Dore, 
with  the  roofless  ruins 
of  its  abbey,  a  part 
of  which  is  utilized 
for  the  parish  church, 
though  scarcely  any- 
thing is  now  left  be- 
yond fragments  of  the  con- 
ventual buildings.  This  was  a 
Cistercian  monastery  founded  by  Robert 
of  Ewias  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  We  are 
now  in  the  heart  o!  the  Golden  \  alley,  which 
seems  to  be  excavated  out  of  a  plateau  with 
long,  terrace-like  hills  bounding  it  on  either  hand,  their  lower  parts  rich  in  ver- 
dure, while  their  summits  are  dark  and  generally  bare.  Every  available  part 
of  the  lower  surface  is  thoroughly  cultivated,  its  hedgerows  and  copses  giving 
variety  to  the  scene.  As  we  move  up  the  valley  the  Scyrrid  Vawr  raises  its 
notched  and  pointed  summit  like  a  peak  dropped  down  upon  the  lowlands. 
This  mountain,  nearly  fifteen  hundred  feet  high,  whose  name  means  the  "Great 
Fissure,"  is  severed  into  an  upper  and  lower  summit  by  a  deep  cleft  due  to  a 


PONTRILAS    COURT. 


THE   GOLDEN    VALLEY. 


landslip.  It  is  also  known  as  the  Holy  Mountain,  and  in  its  day  has  been  the 
goal  of  many  pilgrims.  St.  Michael,  the  guardian  of  the  hills,  has  a  chapel  there, 
where  crowds  resorted 
on  the  eve  of  his  fes- 
tival. It  used  to  be 
the  custom  for  the 
Welsh  farmers  to  send 
for  sackloads  of  earth 
out  of  the  cleft  in  this 
Holy  Mountain,  which 
they  sprinkled  over 
their  houses  and  farm- 
buildings  to  avoid  evil. 
They  were  also  espe- 
cially careful  to  strew 
portions  over  the 
coffins  and  graves  of 
the  dead.  At  the  vil- 
lage of  Worm  ridge, 
where  some  members 
of  the  Clive  family  are 
buried,  there  is  a  grand 
old  elm  on  the  village- 
green  around  which 
the  people  used  to  as- 
semble for  wrestling 
and  for  the  performance 
of  other  rural  amusements. 
At  the  base  of  this  tree  stood  the 
stocks,  that  dungeon  "all  of  wood"  to 
which  it  is  said  there  was 


THE   SCYRRII)    VAWR. 


' neither  iron  bar  nor  gate, 

Portcullis,  chain,  nor  bolt,   nor  grate, 

And  yet  men  durance  there  abide 

In   dungeon  scarce  three  inches   wide." 


This  famous  valley  also  contains  the  pretty  church  and  scanty  ruins  of  the 
castle  of  Kilpeck;  also  the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Rowlstone,  where  the  orna- 
mental representations  of  cocks  and  apostolic  figures  all  have  their  heads 


37-  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


downward,  in  memory  of  the  position  in  which  St.  Peter  was  crucified.  Here 
also,  on  the  edge  of  the  Black  Mountains,  is  Oklcastle,  whose  ruins  recall  its 
owner,  Sir  John  "of  that  ilk,"  the  martyr  who  was  sentenced  in  1417  to  be 
taken  from  the  Tower  of  London  to  St.  Giles'  gallows,  there  to  be  hanged, 
and  burned  while  hanging,  as  "a  most  pernicious,  detestable  heretic."  At 
Longtown,  the  residence  of  the  Lacies,  there  are  remains  of  the  walls  and 
circular  keep  of  their  strong  Border  fortress.  Kentchurch,  on  the  slope  of 
Garway  Hill,  is  a  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Scudamore,  where  anciently  lived  John 
of  Kent,  a  poet  and  mathematician,  of  whom  Symonds  tells  us  in  his  Records 
of  the  Rocks  that  "  he  sold  his  soul  to  the  devil,  and  constructed  the  bridge 
over  the  Monnow  in  a  single  night."  The  ruined  castle  of  Grosmont  is  about 
a  mile  distant :  it  was  often  besieged  by  the  Welsh,  and  we  are  told  that  on 
one  occasion  "  the  king  came  with  a  great  army  to  raise  the  siege,  whereof,  as 
soon  as  the  Welshmen  had  understanding,  they  saved  their  lives  by  their 
legges."  It  was  here  that  Henry  of  Monmouth  defeated  the  Welsh,  capturing 
Glendower's  son  Griffith. 

ABERGAVENNY  AND  LLANTHONY. 

Rounding  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Black  Mountains,  and  proceeding 
farther  westward,  we  enter  another  beautiful  region,  the  Vale  of  Usk,  a  stream 
that  flows  southward  into  the  estuary  of  the  Severn.  Here  is  Abergavenny, 
with  its  ancient  castle  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  upper  valley,  and  with 
mountains  on  every  side.  Here  rises,  just  north  of  the  town,  the  Sugar  Loaf, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  high,  and  on  the  left  hand  the 
mass  of  old  red  sandstone  known  as  the  Blorenge,  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  high.  A  few  miles  up  the  tributary  vale  of  Ewias,  which 
discloses  glorious  scenery,  are  the  ruins  of  Llanthony  Priory.  The  valley  is  a 
deep  winding  glen  cut  out  by  the  Hodeni  between  the  great  cliffs  of  the  Black 
Mountains  en  the  one  side  and  the  ranges  around  the  Sugar  Loaf  on  the  other. 
In  places  the  cliffs  are  precipitous,  but,  generally,  the  lower  slopes  furnish  pas- 
ture-land and  occasional  woods,  while  the  upper  parts  are  covered  with  bracken 
fern,  with  a  few  trees  and  copses.  The  priory  stands  on  a  gentle  slope  at  the 
base  of  the  Black  Mountains,  elevated  a  short  distance  above  the  stream. 
Its  original  name  was  Llanhodeni,  or  "  the  Place  by  the  Hodeni."  It  was 
founded  by  two  hermits  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century — William  de 
Lacy,  a  Norman  knight,  and  Ernisius,  chaplain  to  Maud,  wife  of  Henry  I. 
They  first  built  a  small  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  David  ;  gifts  flowed  in,  and 
they  were  soon  enabled  to  construct  a  grand  religious  house,  occupied  by 
Augustinian  monks,  of  whom  Ernisius  became  the  first  prior.  Predatory  raids 


ABERGAl'KX.VV  A.\'D  LLANTHONY. 


373 


by  the  Welsh,  however,  harassed  the  monks,  and  after  submitting  for  some  time 
to  these  annoyances  they  migrated  to  Gloucester,  anil  founded  another  priory 
alongside  the  Severn.  Later,  however,  they  returned  to  the  old  place  and 
kept  up  both  establishments,  but  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV7.  the  older  was 
merged  into  the  newer 
"because  of  the  turbulence 
of  the  neighboring  people 
and  the  irregular  lives  of 
its  inmates."  The  ruins  of 
Llanthony  are  supposed  to 
date  from  about  1200,  and 
are  of  a  marked  though 
simple  beauty.  The  con- 
vent buildings  are  almost 
all  gone,  excepting  frag- 
ments of  the  cellars  and 
chapter-house.  The  prior's 
residence  has  become  a 
farm-house,  and  where  the 
monks  sat  in  solemn  con- 
clave is  now  its  outbuild- 
ings. The  towers  are 
used,  one  for  chambers  and 
the  other  for  a  dairy.  The 
main  part  of  the  church  is. 
however,  carefully  pre- 
served with  a  green  turf 
floor,  and  the  western 
towers  up  to  the  level  of 
the  walls  of  the  nave  are 
still  quite  perfect,  though 
the  west  window  is  gone  and  parts  of  the  adjacent  walls  have  perished.  The 
north  transept  has  fallen,  but  the  southern  transept  is  still  in  fair  condition, 
lighted  at  the  end  by  a  pair  of  round-headed  windows,  with  a  circular  one 
above;  a  semicircular  arch  on  its  eastern  side  opens  into  a  chapel.  The  choir 
is  also  well  preserved.  These  ruins  exhibit  semicircular  with  pointed  arches 
in  indiscriminate  combination,  and  during  the  present  century  decay  has  caused 
much  of  them  to  fall.  It  was  to  Llanthony  that  Walter  Savage  Landor  removed 
in  1809,  selling  much  of  his  family  estates  in  order  to  buy  it.  He  projected 


LLANTHO 


>RV.  LOOKING  DOWN  THE  XAVI  . 


374 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


grand  improvements,  including  the  restoration  of  the  priory,  the  construction 
of  roads  and  bridges,  and  the  cultivation  of  extensive  tracts  on  the  mountain- 
side, so  that  it  became  of  note  among  literary  men  as  the  home  of  one  of  the 
most  original  of  their  guild.  His  biographer  tells  us  that  he  imported  sheep 
from  Segovia,  and  applied  to  Southey  and  other  friends  to  furnish  him  tenants 

who  would  introduce  improved 
agricultural  methods.  The  inhab- 
itants of  this  remote  region  were 
morose  and  impoverished,  and  he 
wished  to  reclaim  them.  To  clothe 
the  bare  spots  on  the  flanks  of  the 
mountains,  he  bought  two  thousand 
cones  of  the  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
each  calculated  to  produce  a  hun- 
dred seeds,  and  he  often  exulted 
"in  the  thought  of  the  million 
cedar  trees  which  he  would  thus 
leave  for  shelter  and  the  delight 
of  posterity."  But  he  met  the  fate 
of  many  projectors.  After  four 
years'  struggle  he  became  disgust- 
ed with  Llanthony  and  its  people  ; 
he  was  in  a  quarrel  with  almost 
everybody,  and  his  genius  for 
punctiliousness  had  turned  nearly 
the  whole  neighborhood  against 
him.  He  had  sunk  his  capital  in 
the  estate  and  its  improvements, 
and  becoming  embarrassed,  it  was 
taken  out  of  his  hands  and  vested 
in  trustees.  His  half-built  house 
was  pulled  down,  and  the  disgusted  Landor  left  England  for  the  Continent. 
At  Llanthony  he  composed  Latin  verses  and  English  tragedy,  but  his  best 
literary  labor  was  performed  after  he  left  there.  A  few  miles  farther  up  the 
valley  is  Capel-y-Ffyn,  where  Father  Ignatius  within  a  few  years  has  erected  his 
Anglican  monastery.  He  was  Rev.  Mr.  Lyne,  and  came  from  Norwich,  where 
he  was  in  frequent  collision  with  the  bishop.  After  much  pother  and  notoriety 
he  took  his  Protestant  monastic  settlement  to  this  nook  in  the  heart  of  the 
Black  Mountains,  where  he  and  his  monks  perform  their  orisons  in  peace. 


)NY-THE   SOUTH    TRANSEPT,    FROM    THE    NAVE. 


NEWPORT,   CARDIFF,  AND   LLANDAFF.  375 

NEWPORT,    CARDIFF,    AND    LLANDAFF. 

We  now  follow  down  the  Usk,  and  at  its  mouth  upon  the  Severn  estuary  is 
Newport,  in  Monmouthshire,  where  there  are  large  docks  and  a  considerable 
trade.  The  ruins  of  Newport  Castle  stand  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river. 
In  the  suburbs  is  Caerleon,  where  the  Romans  long  had  the  garrison-post  of 
the  second  Augustan  legion.  The  museum  here  is  filled  with  Roman  remains, 
and  the  amphitheatre,  called  "  King  Arthur's  Round  Table,"  is  alongside.  Pro- 
ceeding westward  about  twelve  miles  along  the  shore  of  the  Severn  estuary, 
we  come  to  Penarth  Roads  in  Glamorganshire,  sheltered  under  a  bold  head- 
land at  the  mouths  of  the  Ely  and  the  Taff,  and  the  flourishing  Welsh  seaport 
of  Cardiff  on  the  banks  of  the  latter  stream.  This  is  the  outport  of  the  Welsh 
coal  and  iron  region,  and  the  Marquis  of  Bute,  who  is  a  large  landowner  here, 
has  done  much  to  develop  its  enormous  trade,  which  goes  to  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Its  name  is  derived  from  Caer  Taff,  the  fortress  on  the  river  Taff,  and 
in  early  times  the  Welsh  established  a  castle  there,  but  the  present  one  was  of 
later  construction,  having  been  built  by  Robert  Fitzhamon,  the  Anglo-Norman 
conqueror  of  Glamorgan.  It  was  afterwards  strongly  fortified,  and  here  the 
unfortunate  Robert,  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  was  imprisoned  for  twenty- 
eight  years  by  his  brother  Henry  I.,  his  eyes  being  put  out  for  his  greater 
security.  The  tower  where  he  was  confined  still  stands  alongside  the  entrance 
gateway,  and  during  his  long  captivity  we  are  told  that  he  soothed  his  weari- 
ness by  becoming  a  poet.  The  ancient  keep  remains  standing  on  its  circular 
mound,  but  the  castle  has  been  restored  and  modernized  by  the  Marquis  of 
Bute,  who  occasionally  resides  there,  and  has  given  it  a  fine  western  front 
flanked  by  a  massive  octagonal  tower.  The  moat  is  filled  up,  and,  with  the  • 
acclivities  of  the  ramparts,  is  made  a  public  walk  and  garden.  In  the  valley 
of  the  Taff,  a  short  distance  from  Cardiff,  is  the  famous  "  Rocking  Stone," 
standing  on  the  western  brink  of  a  hill  called  Coed-pen-maen,  or  the  "  Wood 
of  the  Stone  Summit."  It  was  anciently  a  Druids'  altar,  and  with  a  surface 
of  about  one  hundred  square  feet  is  only  two  to  three  feet  thick,  so  that 
it  contains  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  cubic  feet  of  stone.  It  is  the  rough 
argillaceous  sandstone  that  accompanies  the  coal-measures  in  this  part  of 
Wales,  and  a  moderate  force  gives  it  quite  a  rocking  motion,  which  can  be 
easily  continued  with  one  hand.  It  stands  nearly  in  equilibrium  upon  a  pivotal 
rock  beneath.  Two  miles  from  Cardiff  is  the  ancient  and  straggling  village 
of  Llandaff,  which  was  the  seat  of  the  earliest  Christian  bishopric  in  Wales, 
having  been  founded  in  the  fourth  century.  Its  cathedral,  for  a  long  time 
dilapidated,  has  within  a  few  years  been  thoroughly  restored.  All  the  valleys 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


in  the  hilly  region  tributary  to  Cardiff  are  full  of  coal  and  iron,  the  mining  and 
smelting  of  which  have  made  enormous  fortunes  for  their  owners  and  developed 
a  vast  industry  there  within  the  present  century.  About  nine  miles  north  of 
Cardiff  is  Caerphilly  Castle,  which  has  the  most  remarkable  leaning  tower  in 
Britain,  it  being  more  inclined  from  the  perpendicular  than  any  other  that  is 
known.  It  is  about  eighty  feet  high,  and  leans  over  a  distance  of  eleven  feet. 
It  rests  only  on  a  part  of  its  southern  side,  and  maintains  its  position  chiefly 
through  the  strength  of  the  cement.  This  castle  was  built  by  the  De  Clares 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  and  large  additions  were  made  to  it  by  Hugh  De- 
spenser,  who  garrisoned  it  for  Edward  II.  in  order  to  check  the  Welsh.  It  is  a 
large  concentric  castle,  covering  about  thirty  acres,  having  three  distinct  wards, 
seven  gate-houses,  and  thirty  portcullises.  It  was  here  that  Edward  II.  and 
his  favorites,  the  Despensers,  were  besieged  by  the  queen  in  1326.  The  defence 
was  well  conducted,  and  the  besiegers  were  greatly  annoyed  by  melted  metal 
thrown  down  on  them  from  the  walls,  which  was  heated  in  furnaces  still  remain- 
ing at  the  foot  of  the  tower.  They  made  a  desperate  assault,  which  was  par- 
tially successful,  though  it  ultimately  failed ;  and  we  are  told  that  while  in  the 
castle  they  let  the  red-hot  metal  run  out  of  the  furnaces,  and,  throwing  water 
on  it  from  the  moat,  caused  an  explosion  which  tore  the  tower  from  its  founda- 
tions and  left  it  in  its  present  condition.  The  fissures  made  by  the  explosion 
are  still  visible,  and  it  has  stood  thus  for  over  five  centuries.  The  castle  ulti- 
mately surrendered,  the  king  having  previously  escaped.  The  Despensers 
were  beheaded,  and  their  castle  never  regained  its  ancient  splendor. 

SWANSEA. 

Journeying  westward  from  Cardiff  along  the  coast  of  Glamorganshire,  upon 
the  Bristol  Channel,  we  come  to  the  Welsh  Bay  of  Naples,  where  the  chim- 
neys replace  the  volcano  of  Vesuvius  as  smoke-producers.  This  is  the  Bay 
of  Swansea,  a  very  fine  one,  extending  for  several  miles  in  a  grand  curve  from 
Porthcawl  headland  on  the  eastern  verge  around  to  the  Mumbles,  where  a  bold 
limestone  cliff  runs  far  out  into  the  sea  and  forms  a  natural  breakwater.  Within 
this  magnificent  bay,  with  its  wooded  and  villa-lined  shores,  there  is  a  spot  that 
discloses  the  bare  brown  hills  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  valley  of  the  river 
Tawe,  up  which  the  houses  of  Swansea  climb,  with  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke 
overhanging  them  that  is  evolved  from  the  smelting-furnaces  and  collieries 
behind  the  town.  Forests  of  masts  appear  where  the  smoke  permits  them 
to  be  visible,  and  then  to  the  right  hand  another  gap  and  overhanging  smoke- 
cloud  marks  the  valley  of  the  Neath.  The  ancient  Britons  called  the  place 
Aber-tawe,  from  the  river,  and  there  are  various  derivations  of  the  present 


SWANSEA. 


377 


name.  Some  say  it  came  from  flocks  of  swans  appearing  in  the  bay,  and 
others  from  the  porpoises  or  sea-swine,  so  that  the  reader  may  take  his  choice 
of  Swan-sea  or  Swine-sea.  In  the  twelfth  century  it  was  known  as  Sweynsey, 
and  perhaps  the  best  authority  says  the  name  came  from  Sweyne,  a  Scandi- 
navian who  frequented  that  coast  with  his  ships.  When  the  Normans  invaded 
Glamorgan,  Henry  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  captured  Swansea,  and  in 
the  twelfth  century  built  a  castle  there.  King  John  gave  it  a  charter,  and  it 


C,    SWANSEA. 


became  a  town  of  some  importance,  as  he  granted  it  extensive  trading-privi- 
leges. In  another  charter,  given  by  the  lord  of  the  manor  in  1305,  the 
first  allusion  is  made  to  Welsh  coal,  for  the  people  among  other  privileges 
are  allowed  to  dig  "  pit-coal  in  Ballywasta."  Thus  began  the  industry  that  has 
become  the  mainstay  of  prosperity  in  South  Wales.  Warwick's  Castle  at 
Swansea  has  entirely  disappeared,  the  present  ruins  being  those  of  a  castle 
afterwards  built  by  Henry  de  Cower,  who  became  Bishop  of  St.  David's. 
What  is  left  of  it  is  almost  hidden  by  modern  buildings.  It  has  the  remains 
of  a  curtain-wall  and  two  towers,  the  larger  of  which  has  an  arcade  beneath 


48 


378 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  battlement — an  unusual  but  pleasing  feature.     Lewellyn  harassed  the  town 
and  castle,  but  it  had  not  much  history  until  the  Civil  War,  when  there  was  a 
little  fighting  for  its  possession.     A  Parliamentary  ship  appeared  in  the  bay 
and  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  town,  which  was  refused;  but  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  Parliamentary 
troops  captured  it.  Subsequently 


SWANSEA   CASTLE. 


the  castle  changed  hands  several  times — 
the  guide-book  states  "  rather  politically 
than    gloriously."      Cromwell    ultimately  took 
possession    in    1648,    resided    at   Swansea    for 

some  time  as  lord  of  the  manor,  and  was  very  liberal  to  the  town. 
The  castle  was  dismantled  and  partly  destroyed,  the  keep  being 
used  as  a  jail.  Swansea,  like  all  the  cities  in  the  Welsh  coal  and  metal  region, 
has  grown  greatly  during  the  present  century.  Walter  Savage  Landor  lived 
here  for  a  while,  just  when  the  copper-works  were  beginning  to  appear  in  the 
valley  of  the  Tawe.  Their  smoke  defiled  the  landscape,  and  he  exclaimed, 
"Would  to  God  there  was  no  trade  upon  earth1"  He  preferred  Swansea  Bay 
above  the  gulf  of  Salerno  or  of  Naples,  and  wrote,  "  Give  me  Swansea  for 
scenery  and  climate!  If  ever  it  should  be  my  fortune  to  return  to  England,  I 
would  pass  the  remainder  of  my  days  in  the  neighborhood  of  Swansea,  between 
that  place  and  the  Mumbles." 

Swansea's    earliest   dock   was    made   by  walling    a    tidal    inlet    called    Port 


SWANSEA. 


379 


Tennant,  and  is  still  used.  Its  former  great  dock  was  the  North  Dock,  con- 
structed in  the  old  bed  of  the  Tawe,  a  newer  and  more  direct  channel  being 
made  for  the  river.  It  has  two  recently-constructed  and  larger  docks.  Up  the 
valley  of  the  Tawe  the  town  spreads  several  miles,  and  here  are  the  enormous 
copper-works  and  smelting-furnaces  which  make  a  reproduction  of  the  infernal 
regions,  defile  the  air,  but  fill  the  purses  of  the  townsfolk.  Swansea  is  the 
greatest  copper-smelting  dep&t  in  the  world,  drawing  its  ores  from  all  parts 
of  the  globe.  There  had  been  copper-works  on  the  Neath  three  centuries 


THE    MUMBLES. 


ago,  but  the  first 
upon  the  Tawe 
were  establish- 
ed in  1745.  From  them 
have  grown  the  fame 
and  wealth  of  the  Cornish  family 
of  the  Vivians,  who  have  been 
copper-smelters  for  three  generations  at  Swansea,  and  in  front  of  the  town- 
hall  stands  the  statue  of  the  "  Copper  King,"  the  late  John  Henry  Vivian,  who 
represented  Swansea  in  Parliament.  There  are  also  iron,  zinc,  lead,  and  tin- 
plate  works,  making  this  a  great  metallurgical  centre,  while  within  forty  miles 
there  are  over  five  hundred  collieries,  some  existing  at  the  very  doors  of  the 
smelting- works.  It  is  cheap  fuel  that  has  made  the  fortune  of  Swansea. 

The  bold  promontory  of  the  Mumbles,  which  bounds  Swansea  Bay  to  the 
westward,  has  become  a  popular  watering-place,  into  which  it  has  gradually 
developed  from  the  fishing-village  nestling  under  Oystermouth  Castle.  The 
bay  was  once  a  great  producer  of  oysters,  and  dredging  for  them  was  the 


38o 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


chief  industry  of  the  inhabitants.  The  remains  of  the  castle  stand  upon  a 
knoll  overlooking  the  sea.  and  with  higher  hills  behind.  The  Duke  of  Beau- 
fort, to  whom  it  belongs,  keeps  the  ruins  carefully  protected,  and  they  are  in 


OYSTERMOUTH    CASTLE. 


rather  good  preservation.  The 
plan  is  polygonal,  approach- 
ing a  triangle,  with  its  apex  to- 
wards the  sea,  where  was  the  only  entrance, 
a  gateway  guarded  by  two  round  towers, 
of  which  only  the  inner  face  now  remains. 
The  interior  court  is  small,  with  the  keep  at 
the  north-eastern  angle,  having  a  chapel  at  the  top.  There  are  some  other 
apartments  with  vaulted  chambers  underground.  Henry  de  Bellamont  is 
believed  »x>  have  built  this  fortress  at  about  the  time  of  the  construction  of 
Swansea  Castle,  but  it  has  not  contributed  much  to  history,  though  now  a 
picturesque  ruin. 

On  the  eastern   side  of  Swansea  Bav  enters  the  Vale  of  Neath,  where  is 


CAERMARTHEX  AND   PEMBROKE. 


381 


also  a  manufacturing  town  of  rapid  growth,  while  within  the  Yale  is  beautiful 
scenery.  Neath  is  of  great  antiquity,  having  been  the  Nidum  of  the  days  of 
Antoninus.  At  the  Crumlyn  Bog,  where  white  lilies  blossom  on  the  site  of 
an  ancient  lake,  legend  says  is  entombed  a  primitive  city,  in  proof  whereof 
strains  of  unearthly  music  may  be  occasionally  heard  issuing  from  beneath  the 
waters.  In  the  valley  on  the  western  bank  of  the  river  are  the  extensive  ruins 
of  Xeath  Abbey,  said  once  to  have  been  the  fairest  in  all  Wales.  This  religious 


NEATH    AKl'.KY. 


house  was  founded  by  Richard  de  Granville  in  the  twelfth  century,  but  its  present 
buildings  are  of  later  date.  Within  its  walls  Edward  II.  took  refuge  when  he 
escaped  from  Caerphilly,  for  it  had  the  privilege  of  sanctuary;  but  after  leaving 
Neath  a  faithless  monk  betrayed  him,  and  he  was  put  to  death  most  cruelly  at 
Berkeley  Castle.  Only  a  ruined  gateway  remains  of  Xeath  Castle,  blackened 
by  the  smoke  of  smelting-works. 

CAERMARTHEN  AND  PEMBROKE. 

Proceeding  westward  along  the  coast  of  the  jutting  peninsula  formed  by 
South  \Vales,  another  grand  bay  indents  the  shore,  and  on  the  bold  banks  of 
the  Towy  is  Caermarthen,  which  gives  the  bay  its  name.  Here  there  was  a 


382  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


Roman  station,  on  the  site  of  which  the  castle  was  built,  but  by  whom  is  not 
accurately  known.  The  Parliamentarians  captured  and  dismantled  it,  and  it 
has  since  fallen  into  almost  complete  decay,  though  part  was  occupied  as  a  jail 
till  the  last  century.  In  Caermarthen  Church,  Richard  Steele  the  essayist  is 
buried,  while  from  the  parade  is  a  beautiful  view  up  the  Vale  of  Towy  towards 
Merlin's  Hill  and  Abergwili,  which  was  the  home  of  that  renowned  sage. 
Around  the  sweeping  shores  of  Caermarthen  Bay,  about  fifteen  miles  to  the 
westward,  is  Tenby  Castle,  the  town,  now  a  watering-place,  being  singularly 
situated  on  the  eastern  and  southern  sides  of  a  narrow  rocky  peninsula  en- 
tirely surrounded  by  the  sea,  excepting  to  the  northward.  This  was  the  Welsh 
"  Precipice  of  Fishes,"  and  its  castle  was  strongly  fortified.  It  stood  a  five 
days'  siege  from  Cromwell,  and  its  shattered  ruins,  with  the  keep  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  hill,  show  a  strong  fortress.  From  the  top  there  is  a  magnificent 
view  of  the  neighboring  shores  and  far  across  the  sea  to  the  lofty  coasts  of 
Devonshire.  Manorbeer  Castle,  belonging  to  Lord  Milford,  is  near  Tenby, 
and  is  considered  the  best  structure  of  its  class  in  Wales.  It  is  the  carefully- 
preserved  home  of  an  old  Norman  baron,  with  its  church,  mill,  dove-house, 
pond,  park,  and  grove,  and  "  the  houses  of  his  vassals  at  such  distance  as  to 
be  within  call."  The  buildings  have  stone  roofs,  most  of  which  are  perfect, 
and  it  has  been  tenantless,  yet  carefully  preserved,  since  the  Middle  Ages. 
Parts  of  it  have  stood  for  six  centuries.  In  the  upper  portion  of  the  Vale  of 
Towy  is  the  Golden  Grove,  a  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Cawdor,  a  modern  Elizabethan 
structure.  Here  lived  Jeremy  Taylor,  having  taken  refuge  there  in  the  Civil 
War,  and  he  here  wrote  some  of  his  greatest  works. 

Beyond  Caermarthenshire  is  Pembrokeshire,  forming  the  western  extremity 
of  the  Welsh  peninsula.  The  river  Cleddan,  flowing  south-westward,  broadens 
at  its  mouth  into  the  estuary  known  as  Milford  Haven.  It  receives  a  western 
branch,  on  the  side  of  which  is  the  county-town,  Haverfordwest,  placed  on  a 
hill  where  the  De  Clares  founded  a  castle,  of  which  little  now  remains  but  the 
keep,  used  (as  so  many  of  them  now  are)  as  the  county-jail.  Cromwell  demol- 
ished this  castle  after  it  fell  into  his  hands.  The  great  promontory  of  St.  David's 
Head  juts  out  into  the  sea  sixteen  miles  to  the  westward.  The  Cleddan  flows 
down  between  the  towns  of  Pembroke  and  Milford.  The  ruins  of  Pembroke 
Castle  upon  a  high  rock  disclose  an  enormous  circular  keep,  seventy-five  feet 
high  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  feet  in  circumference.  It  was  begun  in 
the  eleventh  century,  and  was  the  birthplace  of  Henry  VII.  in  1456.  Here 
Cromwell  was  repulsed  in  1648,  but  the  fortress  was  secured  for  the  Parliament 
after  six  weeks'  siege.  The  garrison  were  reduced  to  great  straits,  but  were 
only  subdued  by  the  skilful  use  of  artillery  in  battering  down  the  stairway 


CAERMARTHEN  AND  PEMBROKE.  383 


leading  to  the  well  where  they  got  their  water :  the  spring  that  supplied  them 
is  still  there.  Pembroke  has  extensive  trade,  and  its  shipbuilding  dockyard 
covers  eighty  acres.  Opposite  this  dockyard  is  Milford,  the  harbor  being  a 
mile  and  a  half  wide.  The  railway  from  London  runs  down  to  the  pier,  and 
passengers  are  transferred  to  steamers  for  Ireland,  this  being  the  terminus  of 
the  Great  Western  Railway  route,  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  from  the 
metropolis.  Milford  Haven,  at  which  we  close  this  descriptive  journey,  stretches 
for  ten  miles  inland  from  the  sea,  varying  from  one  to  two  miles  in  breadth, 
affords  ample  anchorage,  and  is  strongly  fortified.  The  ancient  Pictou  Castle 
guards  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Cleddan  above  Milford,  while 
Carew  Castle  stands  on  a  creek  entering  Milford  Haven  on  the  south-eastern 
shore,  and  is  an  august  though  ruined  relic  of  the  baronial  splendors  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  It  well  represents  the  condition  of  most  of  the  seacoast  castles 
in  this  part  of  Wales,  of  one  of  which  Dyer  has  written . 

"  His  sides  are  clothed  with  waving  wood, 
And  ancient  towers  crown  his  brow, 
That  cast  an  awful  look  below ; 
Whose  rugged  sides  the  ivy  creeps, 
And  with  her  arms  from  falling  keeps. 
'Tis  now  the  raven's  bleak  abode ; 
'Tis  now  th'   apartment  of  the  toad  ; 
And  there  the  fox   securely  feeds, 
And  there  the  poisonous  adder  breeds, 
Concealed  in  ruins,  moss,  and  weeds ; 
While  ever  and   anon  there  fall 
Huge  heaps  of  hoary,   mouldered  wall. 
"Yet  time  has  seen,  that  lifts  the  low 
And  level  lays  the  lofty  brow, — 
Has  seen  this  broken  pile  complete, 
Big  with  the  vanity  of  state;  — 
But  transient  is  the  smile  of  late.  ' 


VII. 

LONDON,  SOUTH-WEST  TO  LAND'S  END. 

Virginia  Water—  Sunninghill— Ascot— Wokingham— Bearwood—  The  London  Times— White  Horse  Hill- 
Box  Tunnel— Salisbury— Salisbury  Plain— Old  Sarum— Stonehenge— Amesbury— Wilton  House— The 
Earls  of  Pembroke— Carpet-making— Bath— William  B_>ckford— Fonthill— Bristol— William  Canynge 
— Chatterton—  Clifton— Brandon  Hill— Wells— The  Mendips— Jocelyn— Beckington— Ralph  of  Shrews- 
bury—Thomas Ken— The  Cheddar  Cliffs— The  Wookey  Hole— The  Black  Down— The  Isle  of  Avelon 
— Glastonbury— Weary-all  Hill— Sedgemoor— The  Isle  of  Athelney— Bridgewater— Oldmixon— Mon- 
mouth's  Rebellion— Western  Zoyland— King  Alfred— Sherborne— Sir  Walter  Raleigh— The  Coast  of 
Dorset— Poole— Wareham  —  Isle  of  Purbcck— Corfe  Castle— The  Foreland— Swanagc— St.  Aldhclm's 
Head— Weymouth— Portland  Isle  and  Bill— The  Channel  Islands— Jersey— Corbiere  Promontory- 
Mount  Orgueil— Aldernjy— Guernsey— Castle  Cornet— The  Southern  Coast  of  Devon— Abbotsbury— 
Lyme  Regis— Axminstcr— Sidmouth— Exmouth—  Exeter— William,  Prince  of  Orange— Exeter  Cathe- 
dral—Bishop Trelawney— Dawlish— Teignmouth— Hope's  Nose— Babbicombe  Bay— Anstis  Cove— 
Torbay— Torquay— Brixham— Dartmoor— The  River  Dart— Totnes— Berry  Pomeroy  Castle— Dart- 
mouth—The  River  Plym— The  Dewerstone— Plympton  Priory— Sir  Joshua  Reynolds— Catwater  Haven 
—Plymouth— Stonehouse— Devonport— Eddystone  Lighthouse— Tavistock  Abbey—  Buckland  Abbey— 
Lydford  Castle— The  Northern  Coast  of  Devon— Exmoor— Minehead— Dunster— Dunkery  Beacon— Por- 
lock  Bay— The  River  Lyn— Oare— Lorna  Doone— Jan  Ridd— Lynton— Lynmouth— Castle  Rock— The 
Devil's  Cheese-Ring—Combe  Martin-  Ilfracombe— Morte  Point— Morthoe— Barnstaple— Bideford— 
Clovelly— Lundy  Island—  Cor-  wall— Tintagel— Launceston— Liskeard— Fowey— Lizard  Peninsula— 
Falmouth— Pcndennis  Castle—  Helston— Mullyon  Cove— Smuggling—  Kynance  Cove— The  Post-Office 
—Old  Lizard  Head— Polpeor— St.  Michael's  Mount— Penzance— Pilchard  Fishery— Penwith— Land's 
End. 

ASCOT    AND    BEARWOOD. 

LEAVING  London  by  the  South-western  Railway,  and  skirting  along  the 
edge  of  Windsor  Park,  we  pass  Virginia  Water,  the  largest  artificial 
lake  in  England.  Upon  its  bosom  float  miniature  frigates,  and  its  banks  are 
bordered  by  a  Chinese  fishing  temple,  and  a  colonnade  which  was  brought 
from  the  African  coast  near  Tunis.  Here  also  are  a  hermitage  overlooking 
the  lake,  and  the  triangular  turreted  building  known  as  the  Belvedere,  where  a 
battery  of  guns  is  kept  that  was  used  in  the  wars  of  the  last  century.  Not  far 
beyond  is  Sunninghill,  near  which  was  Pope's  early  home,  and  in  the  garden  of 
the  vicarage  are  three  trees  planted  by  Burke,  Chesterfield,  and  Bolingbroke. 
Farther  westward  is  the  famous  Ascot  race-course  on  Ascot  Heath,  where  the 


•Ml 


ASCOT  AND  BEARWOOD. 


385 


races  are  run  in  June  upon  a  circular  course  of  about  two  miles,  the  neigh- 
borhood containing  many  handsome  villas.  Still  journeying  westward,  the 
route  passes  Wokingham,  where  Gay,  Swift,  Pope,  and  Arbuthnot  were  on 
one  occasion  detained  at  the  Rose  Inn  in  wet  weather,  and  whiled  away  the 
time  by  composing  the  song  of  "  Molly  Mog." 

Just  beyond  Wokingham  is  the  fine  estate  of  Bearwood,  the  seat  of  John  Wal- 
ter, Esq.,  the  proprietor  of  the  London  Times,  one  of  the  stately  rural  homes 
of  England.  Here,  in  a  large  and  beautiful  park  which  retains  much  of  its 


- 


' 


BEARWOOD. 


original  forest  character,  and  standing  upon  the  terraced  bank  of  a  lovely  lake, 
Bearwood  House  has  within  a  few  years  been  entirely  rebuilt,  its  feature  being 
the  central  picture-gallery  containing  a  fine  collection  of  paintings,  around 
which  clusters  a  suite  of  grand  apartments.  The  estate  includes  several  thou- 
sand acres,  and  in  the  many  pleasant  cottages  scattered  over  it  and  the  homes 
at  Bearwood  village  many  of  the  aged  and  infirm  employes  of  the  Times  pass 
their  declining  years.  The  Times,  which  was  founded  January  i,  1788,  by  the 
grandfather  of  the  present  proprietor,  has  steadily  grown  in  commanding  in- 
fluence until  it  occupies  the  front  rank  in  English  journalism  and  is  the  leading 
newspaper  of  the  kingdom.  Its  proprietor  has  recently  entirely  rebuilt  its 
publication-offices  in  Printing- House  Square  and  on  Queen  Victoria  Street  in 

4'J 


/ XGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


London,  adapting  all  the  modern  appliances  of  improved  machinery  and 
methods  to  its  publication.  It  is  at  Bearwood,  however,  that  his  philanthropic 
ideas  also  find  a  broad  field  of  usefulness  in  caring  for  those  who  have  grown 
gray  in  the  service  of  the  Times,  and  thither  every  year  go  the  entire  corps  of 
employes  to  enjoy  an  annual  picnic  under  the  spreading  foliage  of  the  park, 
while  no  home  in  England  is  more  frequented  by  Americans  or  extends  to  kin 
from  across  sea  a  more  generous  hospitality. 

KING    ALFRED'S    WHITE    HORSE. 

In  the  chalk  hills  of  Berkshire,  beyond  Reading  and  north  of  Hungerford, 
there  rises  an  eminence  over  nine  hundred  feet  high,  known  as  the  White 
Horse  Hill.  It  is  a  famous  place;  upon  the  summit,  covering  a  dozen  acres, 
and  from  which  eleven  counties  can  be  seen,  there  is  a  magnificent  Roman 
camp,  with  gates,  ditch,  and  mound  as  complete  as  when  the  legions  left  it. 
To  the  westward  of  the  hill,  and  under  its  shadow,  was  the  battlefield  of  Ash- 
down,  where  Alfred  defeated  the  Danes  and  broke  their  power  in  871.  He 
fought  eight  other  battles  against  the  Danes  that  year,  but  they  were  mere 
skirmishes  compared  with  the  decisive  victory  of  Ashdown,  and  in  memory 
of  it  he  ordered  his  army  to  carve  the  White  Horse  on  the  hillside  as  the 
emblem  of  the  standard  of  Hengist.  It  is  cut  out  of  the  turf,  and  can  be 
seen  to  a  great  distance,  being  three  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet  long. 
After  a  sp-11  of  bad  weather  it  gets  out  of  condition,  and  can  only  be  restored 
to  proper  form  by  b-ing  scoured,  this  ceremony  bringing  a  large  concourse 
of  people  from  all  the  neighboring  villages.  The  festival  was  held  in  1857, 
and  the  old  White  Horse  was  then  brought  back  into  proper  form  with  much 
pomp  and  great  rejoicing.  The  ancient  balladist  thus  quaintly  describes  the 
festivity  on  these  memorable  occasions  : 

"The  owld  White  Harse  wants  zettin  to  rights,  and  the  squire  hev  promised  good  cheer, 
7.0  we'll  gee  un  a  scrape  to  kip  tin  in  zhape,  and  a'll  last  for  many  a  year. 
A  was  made  a  king,  king  time  ago,  wi  a  good  dale  o'  labor  and  pains, 

By  King  Alferd  the  Great,  when  he  spwiled  their  consate  and  caddled*  thay  wosbirdsf  the  Danes. 
The  Bleawin  Stwmi  in  days  gone  by  wur  King  Alferd's  bugle  harn, 
And  the  tharnin  tree  you  med  plainly  zee  as  is  called  King  Alferd's  tharn. 
There  '11  be  backsword  play,  and  climmin  the  powl,  and  a  race  for  a  peg,  and  a  cheese, 
And  us  thcnks  as  hisn's  a  dummellj  zowl  as  dwont  care  for  zicli  spwoorts  as  theze." 

Leaving  London  by  the  Great  Western  Railway,  and  passing  beyond  Berk- 
shire, we  cross   the  boundary  into  Wiltshire,  and  go   through  the  longest   rail- 

*  caddled,  worried.  f  w.isbirds,  birds  of  evil  omen.  J  dinnmell,  stupid. 


SALISBURY. 


387 


I 


way-tunnel  in  England,  the  noted  Box  Tunnel,  which  is  a  mile  and  three-quarters 
in  length  and  cost  over  $2,500,000  to  construct.  It  goes  through  a  ridge  of 
great-oolite,  from  which  the  valuable  bath-stone  is  quarried,  and  the  railway 
ultimately  brings  us  to  the  cathedral  city  that  boasts  the  tallest  church-spire  in 
England — Salisbury,  the  county-town  of  Wiltshire,  standing  in  the  valley  formed 
by  the  confluence  of  three  rivers,  the  Avon,  Bourne,  and  Wiley. 

SALISBURY. 

The  celebrated  cathedral,  which  in  some  respects  may  be  considered  the 
earliest  in  England,  is  the  chief  object  at  Salisbury,  and  was  founded  by  Bishop 
Poore  in  1220.  It  was  the  first  great  church  built  in  the  Early  English  style, 
and  its  spire  is  among 
the  most  imposing 
Gothic  constructions  in 
existence.  The  city  of 
Salisbury  is  unique  in 
having  nothing  Roman, 
Saxon,  or  Norman  in  its 
origin,  and  in  being  even 
without  the  remains  of  a 
baronial  fortress.  It  is  a 
purely  English  city,  and, 
though  it  was  surround- 
ed by  walls,  they  were 
merely  boundaries  of  SALISBURY  CATHEDRAL. 

the  dominions  of  the  ecclesiastics.  The  see  of  Salisbury  in  1215  was  removed 
from  Old  Sarum  to  its  present  location  in  consequence  of  the  frequent  con- 
tests between  the  clergy  and  the  castellans,  and  soon  afterwards  the  construc- 
tion of  the  cathedral  began.  King  Henry  III.  granted  the  church  a  weekly 
market  and  an  annual  fair  lasting  eight  clays,  and  the  symmetrical  arrano-e- 
ment  of  the  streets  is  said  to  have  been  caused  by  the  original  laying  out  of 
the  city  in  spaces  "  seven  perches  each  in  length  and  three  in  breadth,"  as  the 
historian  tells  us.  The  cathedral  close,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  wall,  has  four 
gateways,  and  the  best  view  of  the  cathedral  is  from  the  north-eastern  side  of 
the  close,  but  a  more  distant  view — say  from  a  mile  away — brings  out  the  pro- 
portions of  the  universally  admired  spire  to  much  greater  advantage.  The 
chief  cathedral  entrance  is  by  the  north  porch,  which  is  a  fine  and  lofty  structure, 
lined  with  a  double  arcade  and  having  an  upper  chamber.  The  nave  is  beauti- 
ful, though  it  suffers  somewhat  in  warmth  of  coloring  from  lacking  stained 


388 


EXGLA.V/),    PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


glass,  and  the  cloisters,  which  are  entered  from  the  south  western  transept,  are 
admirable,  being  of  later  date  and  exhibiting  a  more  developed  style  than  the 
remainder  of  the  cathedral.  Their  graceful  windows  and  long  gray  arcades 
contrast  splendidly  with  the  greensward  of  the  cloister-garth.  They  include 
an  octagonal  chapter-house,  fifty-eight  feet  in  diameter  and  fifty-two  feet  high, 
which  has  been  restored  in  memory  of  a  recent  bishop  at  a  cost  of  $260,000. 
The  restoration  has  enriched  the  house  with  magnificent  sculptures  represent- 
ing Old-Testament  history,  and  the  restoration  of  the  cathedral  is  also  pro- 
gressing. The  adjoining  episcopal  palace  is  an  irregular  but  picturesque  pile 
of  buildings,  with  a  gateway  tower  that  is  a  prominent  feature. 

Salisbury  has  plenty  of 
old  houses,  like  most  Eng- 
lish towns,  and  it  also  has 
a  large  square  market- 
place, containing  tin- 
Gothic  Poultry  Cross,  a 
most  graceful  stone  struc- 
ture, and  also  the  council- 
house  of  modern  erection, 
in  front  of  which  is  a  statue 
of  Sidney  Herbert.  Its 
ancientbanquet-hall,  built 
four  hundred  years  ago 
by  John  Halle,  and  hav- 
ing a  lofty  timber  roof 
and  an  elaborately-carved 
oak  screen,  is  now  used  as 
the  show-room  for  a  shop. 
To  the  northward  of  Salisbury  is  that  region  filled  with  prehistoric  relics 
known  as  Salisbury  Plain.  Here  are  ancient  fortresses,  barrows,  and  sepulchral 
mounds,  earthworks,  dykes,  and  trenches,  roadways  of  the  Roman  and  the 
Briton,  and  the  great  British  stronghold,  guarding  the  southern  entrance  to  the 
plain,  which  became  the  Old  Sarum  of  later  times.  Until  within  a  century 
this  plain  was  a  solitary  and  almost  abandoned  region,  but  now  there  are  good 
roads  crossing  it  and  much  of  the  land  is  cultivated.  It  is  a  great  triangular 
chalk-measure,  each  side  roughly  estimated  at  twenty  miles  long.  The  Bourne, 
Wiley,  and  Avon  flow  through  it  to  meet  near  Salisbury,  and  all  the  bolder 
heights  between  their  valleys  are  marked  by  ancient  fortifications.  Wiltshire 
is  thus  said  to  be  divided  between  chalk  and  cheese,  for  the  northern  district 


STONEHEXGE.  389 


beyond  the  plain  is  a  great  dairy  region.  Let  us  journey  northward  from 
Salisbury  across  the  plain,  and  as  we  enter  its  southern  border  there  rises  up 
almost  at  the  edge  the  conical  hill  of  Old  Sarum,  crowned  by  intrenchments. 
When  they  were  made  is  not  known,  but  in  552  they  were  a  British  defence 
against  the  Saxons,  who  captured  them  after  a  bitter  fight  and  overran  the 
plain.  Five  centuries  later  William  the  Norman  reviewed  his  army  here,  and 
after  the  first  Domesday  survey  summoned  all  the  landholders  of  England  to 
the  number  of  sixty  thousand,  who  here  swore  fealty  to  him.  The  Normans 
strengthened  it  with  a  castle,  and  soon  a  cathedral  also  rose  at  Old  Sarum, 
while  a  town  grew  around  them.  But  all  have  disappeared,  though  now  there 
can  be  traced  the  outlines  of  streets  and  houses  and  the  foundations  of  the  old 
cathedral.  When  the  clergy  removed  to  Salisbury  it  is  said  they  determined 
the  new  site  by  an  arrow  shot  from  the  ramparts  of  Old  Sarum,  and  moving  the 
cathedral  soon  attracted  the  people.  Old  Sarum  for  some  time  remained 
a  strong  fortress  with  many  houses,  but  the  cathedral  was  taken  down  in 
1331  and  its  materials  used  for  building  the  famous  spire  at  Salisbury.  The 
castle  decayed,  the  town  was  gradually  deserted,  and  as  long  ago  as  the  six- 
teenth century  we  are  told  there  was  not  a  single  house  left  there.  And  such 
it  is  to  this  day.  Climbing  the  steep  face  of  the  hill,  the  summit  is  found 
fenced  by  a  vast  earthen  rampart  and  ditch  enclosing  twenty-seven  acres  with 
an  irregular  circle,  the  height  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  to  the  top  of  the 
rampart  being  over  one  hundred  feet.  A  smaller  inner  rampart  as  high  as  the 
outer  one  made  the  central  citadel.  Nearly  all  the  stone  has  long  ago  been 
carried  off  to  build  Salisbury,  and  weeds  and  brushwood  have  overrun  the 
remarkable  fortress  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  such  venerable  antiquity. 
Under  the  English  "  rotten-borough  "  system  Old  Sarum  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  sending  two  members  to  Parliament  for  three  centuries  after  it  ceased  to  be 
inhabited.  The  old  tree  under  which  the  election  was  held  still  exists,  and  the 
elder  Pitt,  who  lived  near  by,  was  first  sent  to  Parliament  as  a  representative 
of  Old  Sarum's  vacant  mounds. 


STONEHENGE. 

A  few  miles' farther  journey  to  the  northward  over  the  hills  and  valleys,  and 
among  the  sheep  that  also  wander  on  Salisbury  Plain,  brings  us  to  that  remark- 
able relic  of  earlier  ages  which  is  probably  the  greatest  curiosity  in  England — 
Stonehenge.  When  the  gigantic  stones  were  put  there,  and  what  for,  no  man 
knows.  Many  are  the  unanswered  questions  asked  about  them,  for  the  poet 
says : 


390 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


"Thou  noblest  monument  of  Albion's  isle! 

Whether  by  Merlin's  aid  from  Scythia's  shore 

To  Amber's  fatal  plain  Penclragon  bore, 
Huge  frame  of  giant  hands,  the  mighty  pile, 
To  entomb  his  Britons  slain  by   Hcngist's  guile; 

Or  Druid   priests,  sprinkled  with  human  gore, 

Taught  'mid  thy  massy   maze  their  mystic  lore ; 
Or  Danish  chiefs,  enriched  by  savage  spoil. 

To  Victory's  idol  vast,  an  unhewn  shrine, 
Reared  the  huge  heap;   or,  in  thy  hallowed  round. 

Repose  the  kings  of  Brutus'  genuine  line; 
Or  here  those  kings  in  solemn  state  were  crowned; 

Studious  to  trace  thy  wondrous  origin, 
We  muse  on    many  an   ancient  tale  renowned." 

Stonehenge  is  about  nine  miles  north  of  Salisbury,  near  the  town  of  Amesbury, 
where  another  ancient  camp,  known  as  "  The  Ramparts,"  crowns  a  wooded  hill, 
around  which  the  Avon  flows,  the  camp  enclosing  nearly  forty  acres.  Stone- 
henge stands  in  a  bleak,  bare  situation  on  Salisbury  Plain,  and  in  its  original 


STONEHENGE,  FROM  THE  NORTH. 


perfection,  as  nearly  as  can  now  be  judged,  consisted  of  two  concentric  circles 
and  two  ellipses  of  upright  stones,  surrounded  by  a  bank  and  ditch,  outside  of 
which  is  a  single  upright  stone  and  traces  of  a  hippodrome.  The  entrance  to 
the  cluster  of  circles  was  from  the  north-east,  and  the  avenue  to  it  is  still  trace- 
able by  the  banks  of  earth.  The  outer  circle  at  Stonehenge  originally  con- 
sisted of  thirty  upright  stones  fixed  in  the  ground  at  intervals  of  about  three 
and  a  half  feet.  On  the  top  of  them  thirty  other  stones  formed  a  continuous 
ring  about  sixteen  feet  above  the  ground.  Within  this  circle,  and  leaving  a 
space  about  nine  feet  wide  between,  was  another  circle  of  thirty  or  forty  un- 
hewn stones  about  four  to  seven  feet  high.  Within  this,  again,  was  the  grandest 


5  TONEHENGE.  3  9 1 


part  of  the  structure — a  great  ellipse  formed  of  five  triplets  of  stones  or  tri- 
lithons,  each  composed  of  two  uprights  and  one  placed  crosswise.  Within 
these  was  the  inner  ellipse  of  nineteen  obelisks  surrounding  the  altar-stone. 
Such  was  Stonehenge  originally,  but  its  ruins  now  appear  very  differently,  and 
are  only  a  confused  pile  of  huge  stones,  for  the  most  part  such  as  are  found 
on  the  neighboring  plain  and  known  as  sarsens  (a  siliceous  sandstone),  though 
some  of  the  smaller  ones  may  be  boulders  brought  from  a  distance.  The 
diameter  of  the  enclosure  is  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet.  On  the  outer 
circle  sixteen  of  the  uprights  and  six  of  the  surmounting  stones  forming  the 
ring  remain  in  their  original  positions.  Two  of  the  inner  trilithons,  the  high- 
est rising  twenty-five  feet,  remain  perfect,  and  there  are  two  single  uprights, 
which  lean  considerably.  The  Bat  slab  or  altar-stone  is  lying  on  the  ground. 
The  avenue  of  approach  opens  in  front  of  the  inner  ellipse  and  in  a  line  with 
the  altar-stone.  In  the  avenue,  outside  the  enclosure,  is  a  block  sixteen  feet 
high  in  a  leaning  position,  and  known  as  the  Friar's  Heel.  The  legend  tells 
us  that  when  the  great  Enemy  of  the  human  race  was  raising  Stonehenge  he 
muttered  to  himself  that  no  one  would  ever  know  how  it  was  done.  A  pass- 
ing friar,  hearing  him,  exclaimed,  "That's  more  than  thee  can  tell,"  and  then 
fled.  The  Enemy  flung  this  great  stone  after  him,  but  hit  only  the  friar's  heel. 
The  investigators  of  Stonehenge  say  that  when  standing  on  the  altar-stone 
the  midsummer  sun  is  seen  to  rise  to  the  north-east  directly  over  the  "Friar's 
Heel."  The  traces  of  the  avenue  in  which  it  stands  are,  however,  soon  found 
to  divide  into  two  smaller  avenues,  one  running  south-east  and  the  other  north, 
and  the  latter  is  connected  beyond  with  a  long  enclosure  called  the  Cursus,  and 
marked  by  banks  of  earth  stretching  east  and  west  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half: 
there  is  nothing  known  of  its  use.  The  whole  country  about  Stonehenge  is 
dotted  with  groups  ol'  sepulchral  barrows,  and  at  the  western  end  of  the  Cursus 
is  a  cluster  of  them  more  prominent  than  the  others,  and  known  as  the  "  Seven 
Burrows."  Stonehenge  itself  inspires  with  mystery  and  awe,  the  blocks  being 
gray  with  lichens  and  worn  by  centuries  of  storms.  Reference  to  them  is 
found  in  the  earliest  chronicles  of  Britain,  and  countless  legends  are  told  of 
their  origin  and  history,  they  usually  being  traced  to  mythical  hands.  In  James 
I.'s  reign  Stonehenge  was  said  to  be  a  Roman  temple,  dedicated  to  Ccelus ;  sub- 
sequently, it  was  attributed  to  the  Danes,  the  Phoenicians,  the  Britons,  and  the 
Druids  by  various  writers.  Sir  Richard  Hoare,  who  has  studied  the  mystery 
most  closely,  declines  all  these  theories,  and  says  the  monument  is  grand  but 
"  voiceless."  Horace  Walpole  shrewdly  observes  that  whoever  examines  Stone- 
henge attributes  it  to  that  class  of  antiquity  of  which  he  is  himself  most  fond ; 
and  thus  it  remains  an  insoluble  problem  to  puzzle  the  investigator  and  impress 


392 


ENGLAND,   I'fCTCKESO'jF.   A  XI)   DESCRIPTIVE. 


the  tourist.     Michael   Drayton  plaintively  and  quaintly  confesses  that  no  one 
has  yet  solved  the  mystery : 

"  Dull  hcapc,  that  thus  thy  head  above  the  rest  doest  rearc, 
Precisely  yet  not  know'st  who  first  did  place  thee  there. 
Ill  did  those  mightic  men  to  trust  thee  with  their  stone  ; 
Thou  hast  forgot  their  names  who  rear'd  thee  for  their  gloric ; 
For  all  their  wondrous  cost,  thou  that  hast  serv'd  them  so, 
What  'tis  to  trust  to  tombes  by  thee  we  easily  know." 

WILTON     HOUSE. 

Returning  along  the  valley  of  the  Avon  past  the  almost  lifeless  town  of 
Amesbury,  where  there  formerly  was  a  grand  Benedictine  monastery  long  since 
gone  to  decay,  we  cross  over  to  the  Wiley  Vale,  and  at  about  three  miles  dis- 
tance from  Salisbury  come  to  the  Earl  of  Pembroke's  seat  at  Wilton  House. 
The  ancient  town  of  Wilton — or,  as  it  was  originally  called,  Willytown — stands  at 


SOUTH-EAST    VIEW    OF    WILTON    HOUSE. 


the  confluence  of  the  rivers  Nadder  and  Wiley.  The  Britons  established  it, 
and  it  was  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  West  Saxons.  It  was  famous  long  before 
the  Norman  Conquest,  and  it  afterwards  obtained  renown  from  the  number 
and  importance  of  its  monastic  establishments,  having  had  no  less  than  twelve 
parish  churches,  though  not  a  trace  of  its  abbey  now  remains.  Henry  VIII. 
dissolved  it,  and  gave  the  site  and  buildings  to  Sir  William  Herbert,  who  was 
afterwards  created  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  from  its  relics  Wilton  House  was 
largely  constructed.  The  town  is  now  chietly  noted  as  the  manufactory  of 
Axminster  and  Wilton  carpets,  dextrously  woven  by  operatives  who  use  most 
primitive  machinery.  The  Earl's  Park  adjoins  the  town,  and  in  it  is  Wilton 
House,  one  of  the  grandest  palaces  in  England,  standing  upon  the  site  ot  the 
abbey.  The  buildings  were  designed  by  Holbein,  and  the  garden  front  being 


II7LTO.V   HOTSE. 


393 


DOI  ni.K-t  rr,r.   ROOM. 


burned  in  1648,  was  rebuilt  soon  aftenvanls,  while  the  entire  structure  was 
enlarged  and  remodelled  during  the  present  century,  the  cloisters  being  then 
added  for  the  display  of  the  fine  collection  of 
sculptures.  The  plan  of  the  house  is  a  quad- 
rangle, with  a  glazed  cloister  occupying  the  cen- 
tral square.  Within  this  cloister  and  the  hall 
leading  to  it  are  the  well-known  Pembroke  Mar- 
bles— statues,  busts,  urns,  vases,  bassi-relievi,  and 
fragments  of  great  value  from  Grecian  and  Ro- 
man works.  This  collection  was  formed  during 
the  last  century,  being  gathered  by  the  then  earl 
from  various  sources.  In  the  hall  are  statues, 
but  its  chief  interest  comes  from  the  numerous 
suits  of  armor  with  which  it  is  adorned,  chielly 
memorials  of  the  battle  of  St.  Ouentin,  fought  in  1557,  when  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke commanded  the  British  forces.  One  of  the  suits  was  worn  by  the  earl 
himself,  and  two  others  by  the  Constable  of  France  and  the  Due  de  Montpensier, 

both  being 
taken  prisoner. 
On  either  side 
are  entrances  to 
various  apart- 
ments contain- 
ing valuable 
paintings.  The 
chief  of  these 
is  the  "  Family 
Picture,"  re- 
garded as  Van- 
dyke's master- 
piece —  seven- 
teen feet  long 
and  eleven  feet 
high,  and  filling 
J  one  end  of  the 

THE    LIBRARY,    WILTON    HOl'SK.  drawing  -  rOOITl. 

It  contains  ten  full-length  figures — Philip,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  his  countess 
and  their  children.  Above  them,  hovering  in  the  clouds,  are  three  other  chil- 
dren, who  died  in  early  life.  In  the  Double  Cube-room,  which  is  regarded  as 


394 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


LIBRARY    WINDOW. 


a  gem  in  its  way  and  has  a  most  magnificent  fireplace,  there  are  some  thirteen 
other  paintings  by  Vandyke.  Other  paintings  by  Italian  masters  are  also  dis- 
tributed on  the  walls  of  the  various  apartments,  but  the  Vandykes  are  regarded 
as  the  gems  of  the  collection.  The  library  is  a  large  and  lofty  apartment,  with 
an  oak-panelled  ceiling,  and  a  fine  collection  of  volumes  with  appropriate  fur- 
nishing. Out  of  the  library  window  the  western 
view  over  the  terrace  discloses  charming  pleasure- 
grounds,  laid  out  in  the  Italian  style  from  designs  by 
a  former  Countess  of  Pembroke,  while  in  the  back- 
ground is  a  beautiful  porch  constructed  by  Holbein. 
To  the  gardens,  summer-houses  and  conservatories 
add  their  attractions,  while  beyond  is  the  valley  of 
the  Nadder,  over  which  a  picturesque  bridge  leads 
to  the  park.  This  bridge  has  an  Ionic  colonnade, 
and  in  the  park  are  some  of  the  finest  cedars  to  be 
seen  in  the  kingdom.  Here,  it  is  said,  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney wrote  Arcadia,  and  the  work  shows  that  he  drew 
much  inspiration  from  these  gardens  and  grounds,  for 
it  abounds  in  lifelike  descriptions  of  Nature. 
At  Wilton  also  lived  George  Herbert  the  poet,  and  later  Sidney  Herbert,  who 
was  afterwards  made  Lord  Herbert  of  Lea,  and  whose  son  is  now  the  thirteenth 
Earl  of  Pembroke.  A  statue  of  Sidney  Herbert  has  already  been  referred  to 
as  standing  in  Pall  Mall,  London,  and  another  is  in  Salisbury.  He  was  secre- 
tary of  war,  yet  was  the  gentle  and  genial  advocate  of  peace  and  charity  to  all 
mankind,  and  his  premature  death  was  regarded  as  a  public  calamity.  He 
erected  in  1844  the  graceful  New  Church  at  Wilton.  It  was  the  Harls  of  Pem- 
broke in  the  last  century  who  were  chiefly  instrumental  in  bringing  the  manu- 
facturers of  fine  carpets  over  from  France  and  Flanders  and  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  that  trade,  in  which  England  now  far  surpasses  those  countries.  The 
factory  at  Axminster,  on  the  southern  coast,  was  also  afterwards  transferred  to 
Wilton.  These  carpets  are  all  hand-made,  and  the  higher  class,  which  are  an 
inch  or  more  in  thickness  and  of  the  softness  of  clown  when  trod  upon,  are 
also  of  the  most  gorgeous  design  and  brilliancy  of  colors. 

BATH. 

Crossing  over  the  hills  to  the  north-west  of  Salisbury  Plain,  we  descend  to 
the  attractive  valley  of  another  river  Avon,  and  come  to  the  "  Queen  of  all 
the  Spas  in  the  World,"  the  city  of  Bath.  It  is  the  chief  town  of  Somerset- 
shire, and  is  surrounded  by  an  amphitheatre  of  hills.  The  abbey  and  principal 


BATH.  395 

streets  are  in  the  valley,  while  above,  on  its  northern  slope,  rise  terraces  and 
crescents,  tier  upon   tier,  to  a  height  of  nearly  eight  hundred  feet,  the  most 
conspicuous  being  the  Royal   and  the  Lansdowne  Crescents.     Many  of  the 
buildings  are  handsome,  and  are  constructed  of  the  white  great-oolite,  known 
as  bath-stone.     To  its  waters  this  famous  resort  owes  its  importance,  but  from 
an  insignificant  place   Bath  has  risen  to  the  highest  point  of  popularity  as  a 
fashionable  watering-place  and  in  architectural  magnificence  through  the  genius 
of  Architect  Wood  and  Master-of-Ceremonies  Beau  Nash.    The  legendary  king 
Bladud  is  said  to  have  first  discovered  the  Bath  waters  twenty-seven  hundred 
years  ago,  and  to  have  built  a  town  there  and  dedicated  the  medicinal  springs 
to  Minerva,  so  that  "  Bladud's  Well  "  has  passed  into  a  proverb  of  sparkling 
inexhaustibility.     The  Romans,  passionately  attached  to  the  luxury  of  the  hot 
springs,  made  Bath  one  of  their  chief  stations,  and  here  and  in  the  neighbor- 
hood the  foundations  of  their  extensive  buildings  have  been  traced,  with  the 
remains  of  altars,  baths,  tessellated  pavements,  and  ornaments,  and  few  British 
towns  can  produce  such  a  collection   of  Roman   relics.      In  the  height  of  the 
Roman  power  in  the  fifth  century  the  city  extended  nearly  three  miles  along 
the  valley,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  twenty  feet  high  and  nine  feet  thick. 
Such  a  fascinating  spot  was  naturally  selected  for  the  foundation  of  a  religious 
house  at  an   early  period,  and  we  consequently  find  that  the  abbey  of  Bath 
was  built  by  King  Offa  in  the  eighth  century,  and  refouncled  by  King  Edgar  in 
the   tenth  century.      It  existed   until   the  dissolution  in  1539.     The  church  fell 
into  decay  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  and  the  present  abbey-church  was  then 
built,  being  for  a  long   time    unfinished.      It  has  recently  been   restored.     It 
stands  at  the  southern   extremity  of  High  Street,  and  is  a  fine   specimen  of 
Perpendicular  Gothic,  the  plan  being  a  cross,  with  a  tower  at  the  intersection 
rising  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  feet  and  flanked  by  octagonal  turrets.     The 
church  is  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  long,  and  has  a  fan-traced,  stone-vaulted 
roof  seventy-eight  feet  high,  while  the  western   front  contains  a  magnificent 
window  flanked  by  turrets  carved  with  angels,  who  are  ascending  and  descend- 
ing, but  have,  unfortunately,  all  lost  their  heads.     The   Pump  Room,  which  is 
one  of  the  chief  buildings,  is  a  classical  structure  with  a  Corinthian  portico 
bearing  the  motto,  "  Water,   best   of  elements !"     A   band  plays   in   the  spa- 
cious saloon,  which  also  contains  a  statue  of  the  genius  of  Bath,  Beau  Nash, 
whose   monument  is  in  the   abbey-church.      Here  the  waters,  which  are  the 
hottest  in  England,  reaching  a  temperature  of  120°,  tumble  continually  from  a 
drinking-fountain  into  a  serpentine  basin  beneath.     There  are  numerous  other 
baths  replete  with  comforts  for  the  invalid,  for  this  is  essentially  a  hospital  town, 
and  the  city  also  contains  many  stately  public  and  private  buildings,  and  its 


396  ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


Victoria  Park  and  Sydney  Gardens  are  beautiful  and  popular  resorts.  The  wild 
scenery  of  the  neighborhood  provides  myriads  of  attractive  drives  and  walks, 
while  on  top  of  Lansdowne  Hill,  where  Beckford  is  buried,  is  his  tower,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high  and  commanding  extensive  views.  The  Bath 
waters,  which  are  alkaline-sulphurous  with  a  slight  proportion  of  iron,  are  con- 
sidered beneficial  for  palsy,  rheumatism,  gout,  and  scrofulous  and  cutaneous 
affections.  The  chief  spring  discharges  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  gallons 
a  minute.  While  a  hundred  years  ago  Bath  was  at  the  height  of  its  celebrity, 
the  German  spas  have  since  diverted  part  of  the  stream  of  visitors. 

FONTHILL    AND    BECKFORD. 

It  was  at  Bath  that  Pitt  and  Sheridan  lived,  but  its  most  eccentric  resident 
was  William  Beckford,  the  author  of   Vatkck,  who  came  to  Bath  from  Fonthill, 
not  far  from  Salisbury.     His  father,  a  London  alderman,  owned  Fonthill,  and 
died  in  1770,  leaving  his   son  William,  aged  ten,  with  $5,000,000  ready  money 
and  $500,000  annual  income.     He   wrote  Vathck  in  early  life  after  extensive 
travels,  but  founded  its  scenes  and  characters  upon  places  and  people  at  Font- 
hill.     He  then  began  building   Fonthill  Abbey,  shrouding  his  proceedings  in 
the  greatest  mystery  and  surrounding  his  estate   with  a  wall  twelve  feet  high 
and  seven  miles  long,  guarded  by  chevaux-dc-frise  to  keep  out  intruders.     The 
building  of  the  abbey  was  to  him  a  romance  pursued  with  wild  enthusiasm. 
So  anxious  was  he  to  get  it  finished  that  he  employed  relays  of  men,  working 
clay  and  night  and  throughout  Sunday,  keeping  them  liberally  supplied  with 
liquor.     The  first  tower  was  built  of  wood,  four  hundred  feet  high,  to  see  its 
effect,  and  it  was  then  taken  clown  and  the  same  form  put  up  in  wood  covered 
with  cement.     This  fell  down,  and  the  third  tower  was  built  of  masonry.    When 
the  idea  of  the  abbey  occurred  to  Beckford  he  was  extending  a  small  summer- 
house,  but  he  was  in  such  a  hurry  that  he  would  not  remove  the  summer-house 
to  make  a  proper  foundation  for  the  tower,  but  carried  it  up  on  the  walls  already 
standing,  the  work  being  done  in  wretched  style  and  chiefly  by  semi-drunken 
men.     He  employed  five  hundred  men  clay  and  night  at  the  work,  and  once 
the  torches  used  set  fire  to  the  tower  at  the  top,  a  sight  that  he  greatly  enjoyed. 
Beckford  lived  at  the  abbey,  practically  a  hermit,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  but 
his  fortunes  being  impaired  he  removed  to  Bath  in  1822.     Preparatory  to  sell- 
ing Fonthill,  he  opened  the  long-sealed  place  to  public  exhibition  at  a  guinea  a 
ticket,  and  sold  seventy-two  hundred  tickets.     Then  for  thirty -seven  days  he 
conducted  an  auction-sale  of  the  treasures  at  Fonthill,  charging  a  half-guinea 
admission.      He  ultimately  sold  the  estate  for  $1,750,000.      In  1825   the  tower, 
which  had  been  insecurely  built,  fell  with  a  great  crash,  and  so  frightened  the 


BRISTOL.  397 


new  owner,  who  was  an  invalid,  that,  though  unhurt  by  the  disaster,  he  died 
soon  afterwards.  The  estate  was  again  sold  and  the  abbey  taken  down,  so 
that  now  only  the  foundations  can  be  traced. 

BRISTOL. 

Proceeding  about  twelve  miles  down  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Avon,  we 
come  to  its  junction  with  the  Frome,  where  is  located  the  ancient  city  and 
port  of  Bristol,  the  capital  of  the  west  of  England.  A  magnificent  suspension- 
bridge  spans  the  gorge  of  the  Avon,  connecting  Bristol  with  its  suburb  ot 
Clifton,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  earliest  settlements  by  the  Romans  were  on 
the  heights  of  Clifton  and  the  adjoining  Brandon  Hill.  The  Saxons  called  it 
Bright-stow,  or  the  "Illustrious  City;"  from  this  the  name  changed  to  Bristow, 
as  it  was  known  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  Bristold  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III. 
When  the  original  owners  concluded  that  it  was  time  to  come  down  from  the 
hills,  they  founded  the  city  in  the  valley  at  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers.  A 
market-cross  was  erected  where  the  main  streets  joined,  and  Bristow  Castle 
was  built  at  the  eastern  extremity,  where  the  Avon  makes  a  right-angled  bend. 
The  town  was  surrounded  with  walls,  and  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  course 
of  the  Frome  was  diverted  in  order  to  make  a  longer  quay  and  get  more  room 
for  buildings.  Few  traces  remain  of  the  old  castle,  but  portions  of  the  ancient 
walls  can  still  be  seen.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  city-walls  were  described 
as  lofty  and'  massive  and  protected  by  twenty-five  embattled  towers,  some 
round  and  some  square.  The  abbey  of  St.  Augustine  was  also  then  flourish- 
ing, having  been  founded  in  the  twelfth  century.  Bristol  was  in  the  Middle 
Ages  the  second  port  of  England,  enjoying  lucrative  trade  with  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  in  the  fifteenth  century  a  Bristol  ship  carrying  nine  hundred  tons 
was  looked  upon  with  awe  as  a  leviathan  of  the  ocean.  Sebastian  Cabot,  the 
great  explorer,  was  a  native  of  Bristol,  and  his  expeditions  were  fitted  out  there, 
and  it  was  Bristol  that  in  1838  built  and  sent  out  the  first  English  steamer  that 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  the  Great  Western.  It  still  enjoys  a  lucrative  trade,  and 
has  recently  opened  new  docks  at  the  mouth  of  the  Avon,  seven  miles  below 
the  city,  so  that  this  venerable  port  may  be  considered  as  renewing  its 
prosperous  career.  It  has  over  two  hundred  thousand  population,  and  in 
past  times  had  the  honor  of  being  represented  in  Parliament  by  Edmund 
Burke.  When  ancient  Bristol  was  in  its  heyday,  Macaulay  says  the  streets 
were  so  narrow  that  a  coach  or  cart  was  in  danger  of  getting  wedged 
between  the  buildings  or  falling  into  the  cellars.  Therefore,  goods  were 
conveyed  about  the  town  almost  exclusively  in  trucks  drawn  by  dogs,  and 
the  wealthy  inhabitants  exhibited  their  riches  not  by  riding  in  gilded  car- 


398 


ENGLAND,  PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


riages,  but  by  walking  about  the  streets  followed  by  a  train  of  servants  in 
gorgeous  liveries  and  by  keeping  tables  laden  with  good  cheer.  The  pomp 
of  christenings  and  funerals  then  far  exceeded  anything  seen  in  any  other 
part  of  England,  and  the  hospitality  of  the  city  was  widely  renowned.  This 
was  especially  the  case  with  the  banquets  given  by  the  guild  of  sugar-refiners, 
where  the  drink  was  a  rich  beverage  made  of  Spanish  wine  and  known  as 
"Bristol  milk."  In  1831  the  opposition  of  the  Recorder  of  Bristol  to  the 
Reform  Bill  resulted  in  serious  riots,  causing  a  great  fire  that  burned  the 
Mansion  House  and  a  large  number  of  other  prominent  buildings.  The 


BRISTOL    CATHEDRAL.    FROM    COLLEGE   GREEN. 


troops  suppressed  the  riots  after  shooting  several  rioters,  and  four  were  after- 
wards hanged  and  twenty-six  transported.  The  city  has  since  enjoyed  a  tran- 
quil history. 

Bristol  Cathedral  was  the  convent-church  of  St.  Augustine's  Abbey,  and 
was  begun  in  the  twelfth  century.  It  formerly  consisted  only,  of  the  choir 
and  transepts,  the  nave  having  been  destroyed  in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  the 
nave  was  rebuilt  in  uniform  style  with  the  remainder  of  the  church  in  1876. 
The  cathedral  presents  a  mixture  of  architectural  styles,  and  in  it  are  the 
tombs  of  the  Earls  of  Berkeley,  who  were  its  benefactors  for  generations.  Among 
them  was  Maurice,  Lord  Berkeley,  who  died  in  1368  from  wounds  received  at 
Poictiers.  The  abbot,  John  Newland,  or  Nail-heart,  was  also  a  benefactor  ot 
the  abbey,  and  is  said  to  have  erected  the  magnificent  Norman  doorway  to 
the  west  of  it  leading  to  the  college  green.  The  most  attractive  portion  of  the 


BRISTOL. 


399 


interior  of  the  cathedral  is  the  north  aisle  of  the  choir,  known  as  the  Berkeley 
Chapel,  a  beautiful  specimen  of  Early  English  style.  The  side-aisles  of  the 
choir  are  of  the  same  height  as  the  central  aisle,  and  in  the  transepts  are 
monuments  to  Bishop  Butler,  author  of  the  Analogy,  and  to  Robert  Southey, 
who  was  a  native  of  Bristol. 
This  cathedral  is  not  yet 
complete,  the  external  or- 
namentation of  the  nave 
and  the  upper  portions  of 
the  western  towers  being 
unfinished.  Forty  -  seven 
bishops  have  sat  upon  the 
episcopal  throne  of  Bristol. 
The  old  market-cross,  which 
stood  for  four  centuries  in 
Bristol,  was  removed  in  the 
last  century,  but  in  1860  it 
was  replaced  by  a  modern 
one  erected  upon  the  col- 
lege green.  The  church  of 
St.  Mary  Redcliffe,  standing 
upon  a  red  sandstone  rock 
on  the  south  side  of  the 
Avon,  is  the  finest  church 
in  Bristol,  and  Chatterton 
calls  it  the  "  Pricle  of  Bris- 
td\ve  and  Western  Londe."  It  is  an  Early  Perpendicular  structure,  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  feet  long,  with  a  steeple  rising  over  two  hundred  feet, 
founded  in  the  twelfth  century,  but  enlarged  and  rebuilt  in  the  fifteenth  century 
by  William  Canynge,  who  was  then  described  as  "  the  richest  merchant  of 
Bristow,  and  chosen  five  times  mayor  of  the  said  town."  He  and  his  wife  Joan 
have  their  monuments  in  the  church,  and  upon  his  tomb  is  inscribed  the  list 
of  his  ships.  He  entered  holy  orders  in  his  declining  years,  and  founded  a 
college  at  Westbury,  whither  he  retired.  It  has  for  many  years  been  the  custom 
for  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  Bristol  to  attend  this  church  on  Whitsunday  in 
state,  when  the  pavement  is  strewn  with  rushes  and  the  building  decorated  with 
(lowers.  In  the  western  entrance  is  suspended  a  bone  of  a  large  whale,  which, 
according  to  tradition,  is  the  rib  of  the  dun  cow  that  anciently  supplied  Bristol 
with  her  milk.  Sebastian  Cabot,  in  all  probability,  presented  the  city  with  this 


NORMAN  DOORWAY,  COLLEGE  GREEN. 


400 


ENGLAND,   PICTURESQUE  AND  DESCRIPTIVE. 


bone  after  his  discovery  of  Newfoundland.  The  chief  popular  interest  in  St. 
Mary  Redcliffe,  however,  is  its  connection  with  Thomas  Chatterton,  born  in  a 
neighboring  street  in  1752,  the  son  of  a  humble  schoolmaster,  who  ultimately 
went  up  to  London  to  write  for  the  booksellers,  and  there  committed  suicide 
at  the  early  age  of  seventeen.  A  monument  to  this  precocious  genius,  who 
claimed  to  have  recovered  ancient  manuscripts  from  the  church-archives,  stands 
in  the  churchyard.  Bristol  is  full  of  old  and  quaint  churches  and  narrow  yet 
picturesque  streets,  with  lofty  gabled  timber-houses. 

The  great  gorge  of  the  Avon,  five  hundred  feet  deep,  is,  however,  its  most 


CLIFTON    SUSPENSION  BRIDGE,    BRISK)!,. 


attractive  possession.  The  suspension-bridge,  erected  by  the  munificence  of  a 
citizen,  spans  this  gorge  at  the  height  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  feet, 
and  cost  nearly  $500,000.  It  is  twelve  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  has 
a  single  span  of  seven  hundred  and  three  feet  crossing  the  ravine  between 
St.  Vincent's  Rocks  and  the  Leigh  Woods.  Alongside  this  gorge  rises  Bran- 
don Hill,  which  Queen  Elizabeth  sold  to  two  citizens  of  Bristol,  who  in  turn 
sold  it  to  the  city,  with  a  proviso  that  the  corporation  should  there  "admit  the 
drying  of  clothes  by  the  townswomen,  as  had  been  accustomed;"  and  to  this 
day  its  western  slope  is  still  used  as  a  clothes-drying  ground.  From  this  the 
tradition  arose — which,  however,  Bristol  denounces  as  a  libel— "  that  the  queen 
gave  the  use  of  this  hill  to  poor  freemen's  daughters  as  a  dowry,  because  she 
took  compassion  on  the  many  plain  faces  which  she  saw  in  one  of  her  visits." 
Some  hot  springs  issue  out  of  St.  Vincent's  Rocks,  and  these  give  Clifton  fame 


401 


as  a  watering-place.  A  tine  pump-house  has  been  built  there,  and  the  waters 
are  said  to  be  useful  in  pulmonary  complaints.  From  this  beginning  large  and 
ornamental  suburbs  have  been  terraced  on  the  rocks  and  hills  above  the 
springs,  while  on  the  summit  is  an  observatory.  There  is  a  hermitage  cave 
of  great  antiquity  carved  in  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  rock  just  above  the 
river,  and  known  as  the  "  Giant's  Hole."  The  entire  neighborhood  is  full  of 
charming  scenery,  and  thus  the  ancient  port  presents  varied  attractions,  com- 
bining business  profit  with  recreation,  while  from  the  hilltops  there  are  glorious 
views  extending  far  down  Bristol  Channel  to  the  dim  hills  of  South  Wales. 

WELLS. 

Proceeding  southward  into  Somersetshire,  we  arrive  at  the  cathedral  city  of 
Wells,  which  is  united  with  Bath  in  the  well-known  bishopric  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  and  is  considered  the  most 
completely  representative  eccle- 
siastical city  in  England.  It  gets 
its  name  from  its  numerous 
springs,  taking  their  rise  from 
the  wells  in  the  Bishop's  Gar- 
den, where  they  form  a  lake 
of  great  beauty,  while  bright, 
clear  water  runs  through  va- 
rious streets  of  the  town.  After 
leaving  the  edge  of  the  Bristol 
Channel  the  plain  of  the  Som- 
ersetshire lowlands  is  bordered 
by  rocky  uplands,  ot  which  the 
most  important  is  the  elevated 
plateau  known  as  the  Menclip 
Hills,  carved  on  the  outside 
with  winding  valleys  having  pre- 
cipitous sides.  Wells  nestles  in 
a  wide  grassy  basin  at  the  foot 
of  the  Mendips,  its  entire  his- 
tory being  ecclesiastical,  and 
that  not  very  eventful.  It  never  had  a  castle,  and  no  defensive  works  beyond 
the  wall  and  moat  enclosing  the  bishop's  palace.  It  seems  to  have  had  its 
origin  from  the  Romans,  who  worked  lead-mines  among  the  Mendips,  but  the 
first  fact  actually  known  about  it  is  that  the  Saxon  king  Ina  established  here  a 

51 


WKI.I.S    CATHEDRAL,    FROM    THE    B1SHU1''.S    GARDKN. 


402 


ENGLAND,   rfCTl'KKSQCK  AXT   DESCRIPTIVE. 


house  of  secular  canons  "near  a  spring  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew."  It  grew  in 
importance  and  privileges  until  it  became  a  bishopric,  there  having  been  fifteen 
bishops  prior  to  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  double  title  of  Bishop  of  Bath 
and  Wells  was  first  assumed  in  the  days  of  King  Stephen.  In  looking  at  the 
town  from  a  distance  two  buildings  rise  conspicuously — the  belfry  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  Church  and  the  group  of  triple  towers  crowning  the  cathedral.  There 
are  few  aggregations  of  ecclesiastical  buildings  in  England  that  surpass  those  of 
Wells,  with  the  attractive  gateways  and  antique  houses  of  the  close,  the  grand 


WELLS    CATHEDRAL,    FROM    THE    SWAN    POOL. 


facade  of  the  cathedral,  and  the  episcopal  palace  with  its  ruined  banquet-hall  and 
surrounding  moat.  From  the  ancient  market-square  of  the  city,  stone  gate- 
ways surmounted  by  gray  towers  give  access,  one  to  the  close  and  the  other 
to  the  enclosure  of  the  palace.  Entering  the  close,  the  western  front  of  the 
cathedral  is  seen,  the  most  beautiful  facade  of  its  kind  in  Britain — an  exquisite 
piece  of  Early  English  architecture,  with  Perpendicular  towers  and  unrivalled 
sculptures  rising  tier  upon  tier,  with  architectural  accompaniments  such  as 
are  only  to  be  found  at  Chartres  or  Rheims.  The  old  Saxon  cathedral 
lasted  until  Bishop  Jocelyn's  time  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  he  began  a 
systematic  rebuilding,  which  was  not  finished  until  the  days  of  Bishop  Beck- 
ington  in  the  fifteenth  century,  who  completed  the  gateways  and  cloisters. 
Entering  the  cathedral,  the  strange  spectacle  is  at  once  seen  of  singular 


WELLS. 


403 


inverted  arches  under  the  central  tower,  forming  a  cross  of  St.  Andrew,  to 
whom  the  building  is  dedicated.  These  arches  were  inserted  subsequently  to 
the  erection  of  the  tower  to  strengthen  its  supports — an  ingenious  contrivance 
not  without  a  certain  beauty.  The  choir 
is  peculiar  and  beautiful,  and  produces 
a  wonderful  effect,  due  to  its  groups  of 
arches,  the  Lady  Chapel  and  retro-choir, 
and  the  rich  splendors  of  the  stained 
glass.  The  chapter-house,  north-east  of 
the  northern  transept,  is  built  over  a  crypt, 
and  is  octagonal  in  plan,  the  roof  sup- 
ported by  a  central  column,  while  the  crypt 
beneath  has  an  additional  ring  of  columns. 
The  cloisters  are  south  of  the  cathedral, 
having  three  walks,  with  galleries  above 
the  eastern  and  western  walks,  the  former 
being  the  library.  Through  the  eastern 
wall  of  the  cloisters  a  door  leads  to  a 
private  garden,  in  which  and  in  the  Bishop's 
Garden  adjoining  are  the  wells  that  name 
the  city.  The  most  important  of  these  is 
St.  Andrew's  Well,  whence  a  spring  issues 
into  a  large  pool.  The  water  from  the 
wells  falls  by  two  cascades  into  the  surrounding  moat,  and  a  conduit  also  takes 
away  some  of  it  to  supply  the  town.  From  the  edge  of  the  pool  is  the  most 
striking  view  of  the  cathedral. 

The  close  is  surrounded  by  various  ancient  houses,  and  the  embattled  wall 
with  its  bastioned  towers  and  moat  encloses  about  fifteen  acres.  Here  is  the 
gateway  known  as  the  "  Bishop's  Eye,"  and  another  called  the  "  Dean's  Eye," 
the  deanery  where  Henry  VII.  was  entertained  in  1497,  the  archdeanery,  com- 
ing down  from  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  beautiful  Chain  Gate  in  the 
north-east  corner  that  connects  the  cathedral  with  the  Vicar's  Close.  The 
latter,  one  of  the  most  peculiar  features  of  Wells,  is  a  long  and  narrow  court 
entered  through  an  archway,  and  having  ancient  houses  with  modernized  fit- 
tings on  either  hand.  Bishop  Ralph  of  Shrewsbury  erected  this  close  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  his  monumental  inscription  in  the  cathedral  tells  us  he 
was  a  great  sportsman,  who  "destroyed  by  hunting  all  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
great  forest  of  Cheddar."  The  moat  and  wall  completely  surround  the 
bishop's  palace,  and  its  northern  front  overhangs  the  moat,  where  an  oriel 


VIEW    UNDER    CENTRAL    TOWER,   WEI.I.S 
C  ATHEDRAL. 


404 


A\\'<;/..L\-/>, 


AND    />/'-\<  '/,'//  ' 


window  is  pointed  out  as  the  room  where  Bishop  Kidder  and  his  wife  were 
killed  by  the  falling  of  a  stack  of  chimneys  upon  their  bed,  blown  down  by 
the  terrible  gale  of  i  703  that  swept  away  the  Eddystone  Lighthouse.  It  was 
Bishop  Ralph  who  made  the  walls  and  moat  as  a  defence  against  the  monks 
ot  Bath,  who  had  threatened  to  kill  him  ;  Bishop  Jocelyn  built  the  palace. 
Adjoining  it  is  the  great  banquet-hall,  of  which  only  the  northern  and  western 
walls  remain,  in  ruins.  It  was  a  magnificent  hall,  destroyed  from  mere  greed. 


Kl'INS    OF   THE    III. I)    HANOUET-IIAI.I. 


After  the  alienation  of  the  monasteries  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sir  John  Gates, 
who  tore  it  partly  clown  to  sell  the  materials;  but  happily,  as  the  antiquarian 
relates,  Gates  was  beheaded  in  1553  for  complicity  in  Lady  Jane  Grey's  attempt 
to  reach  the  throne,  and  the  desecration  was  stopped.  Afterwards,  Parliament 
sold  Wells  for  a  nominal  price  to  Dr.  Burgess,  and  he  renewed  the  spoliation, 
but,  fortunately  again,  the  Restoration  came  ;  he  had  to  give  up  his  spoils, 
and  died  in  jail.  Thus  was  the  remnant  of  the  ruin  saved.  It  was  in  this 
hall  that  Whiting,  the  last  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  was  condemned,  and  hanged 
on  Tor  Hill  above  his  own  abbey.  The  great  bishops  of  Wells  were  the  epis- 
copal Nimrod  Ralph,  and  Beckington,  who  left  his  mark  so  strongly  on  the 
cathedral  and  town.  He  was  a  weaver's  son,  born  at  the  village  of  Becking- 
ton, near  the  town  of  Frome,  and  from  it  got  his  name.  Hadrian  de  Castello, 
who  had  a  romantic  history,  became  Bishop  of  Wells  in  1504.  Pope  Alexan 
der  VI.  made  him  a  cardinal,  and  afterwards  tried  to  poison  him  with  some 
others  at  a  banquet;  by  mistake  the  pope  himself  drank  of  the  poisoned  wine. 


\  i  •/•:/. LS. 


405 


and  died.  The  bishop  afterwards  entered  into  a  conspiracy  against  Leo  X., 
but,  being  detected,  escaped  from  Rome  in  disguise  and  disappeared.  Wolsey 
was  Bishop  of  Wells  at  one  time,  but  the  most  illustrious  prelate  who  held  the 
see  after  the  Reformation  was  Thomas  Ken.  He  was  educated  at  Winchester, 
and  afterwards  became  a  prebend  of  the  cathedral  there.  Charles  II.  paid  a 
visit  to  Winchester,  and,  bringing  Nell  Gwynne  with  him,  Ken  was  asked  to 
allow  her  to  occupy  his  house.  He  flatly  refused,  which  had  just  the  opposite 
effect  upon  the  king  to  that  which  would  be  supposed,  for  he  actually  respected 
Ken  for  it,  and  when  the  see  of  Wells  became  vacant  he  offered  it  to  "the 
little  fellow  who  would  not  give  poor  Nelly  a  lodging."  Ken  attended  the 
king's  deathbed  shortly  afterwards.  He  was  very  popular  in  the  diocese,  and 
after  the  Sedgemoor  battle  he  succored  the  fugitives,  and  with  the  Bishop  of 
Ely  gave  spiritual  consolation  to  the  unfortunate  Duke  of  Monmouth  on  the 
scaffold.  Ken  was  one  of  the  six  bishops  committed  by  James  II.  to  the  Tower, 
but,  strangely  enough,  he  declined  to  take  the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  William  III., 
and,  being  deprived  of  preferment,  retired  to  the  home  of  his  nephew,  Ixaak 
Walton.  All  reverence  his  sanctity  and  courage,  and  admire  his  morning  and 
evening  hymns,  written  in  a  summer-house  in  the  Bishop's  (iarden. 


ENTRANCE    1O    TIN-:    CIIKIJIJAK    CLIFFS. 


The  Mendip  Hills,  with  their  picturesque  gorges  and  winding  valleys,  were 
formerly  a  royal  forest.  It  was  here  that  King  Edmund  was  hunting  the  red 
deer  when  his  horse  took  fright  and  galloped  towards  the  brow  of  the  highest 
part  of  the  Cheddar  Cliffs.  Shortly  before,  the  king  had  quarrelled  with  Dun- 


406 


/•:.\uL,l.\D, 


.-l\l)    DESCRIPTIVE. 


stan,  and  expelled  the  holy  man  from  his  court.  As  the  horse  galloped  with 
him  to  destruction,  he  vowed  if  preserved  to  make  amends.  The  horse  halted 
on  the  brink  as  if  checked  by  an  unseen  hand,  and  the  king  immediately  sought 

Dunstan  and  made 
him  abbot  of  Glaston- 
bury.  These  hills 
were  the  haunt  of  the 
fiercest  wild  beasts  in 
England,  and  their 
caves  still  furnish 
relics  of  lions  to  a 
larger  extent  than  any 
other  part  of  the  king- 
dom. The  most  re- 
markable deposit  of 
these  bones  is  in  the 
Wookey  Hole,  on  the 
southern  edge  of  the 
Mendips,  about  two 
miles  from  Wells.  At 
the  head  of  a  short 
and  picturesque  glen, 
beneath  an  ivy  -  fes- 
tooned cliff,  is  a  cavern 
whence  the  river  Axe 
issues  and  flows  clown 
the  glen.  The  cave 
that  disclosed  the  ani- 
mal bones  is  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  trlen, 

o 

and  was  but  recently 
discovered  in  making 
a  mill-race.  It  also 
contained  about  three 
,,,OH  HOCKS  AT  CHEDDAR.  hundred  old  Roman 

coins,  rude  flint  implements,  and  skeletons  of  a  mammoth  and  woolly  rhinoce- 
ros. The  larger  cave,  which  is  hung  with  fine  stalactites,  can  be  explored  for 
some  distance.  Near  the  entrance  is  a  mass  of  rock  known  as  the  Witch  of 
Wookey,  who  was  turned  into  stone  there  by  a  timely  prayer  from  a  monk 


GLASTONRURY.  4°  7 


who  opportunely  arrived  from  Glastonbury.  The  underground  course  of  the 
Axe  in  and  beyond  this  cave  is  traced  for  at  least  two  miles.  The  Mendips 
contain  other  pretty  glens  and  gorges,  and  from  the  summit  ot  their  cliffs  can 
be  seen  the  valley  of  the  Axe  winding  away  southward,  while  to  the  westward 
the  scene  broadens  into  the  level  plains  that  border  the-  Bristol  Channel, 
guarded  on  either  side  by  the  hills  of  Exmoor  and  of  Wales.  Little  villages 
cluster  around  the  bases  of  the  hills,  the-  most  noted  being  Cheddar,  famous 
for  its  cheese,  straggling  about  the  entrance  to  a  gorge  in  which  caves  are 
numerous,  each  closed  by  a  door,  where  an  admission-fee  is  charged.  Some 
of  them  are  lighted  with  gas  and  entered  upon  paved  paths.  Lead-  and  xinc- 
mines  are  worked  in  the  glens,  and  above  Cheddar  rises  the  Black  Down  to  a 
height  of  eleven  hundred  feet,  the  most  elevated  summit  of  the  Mendips. 

GLASTONBURY. 

About  six  miles  south-west  of  Wells  is  the  ancient  Isle  of  Avrlon,  where  St. 
Patrick  is  said  to  have  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  and  where  are  the 
ruins  of  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  extensive  religious  houses  in  England— 
Glastonbury  Abbey.  A  sixpence  is  charged  to  visit  the  ruins,  which  adjoin  the 
chief  street,  but  the  remnants  of  the  vast  church,  that  was  nearly  six  hundred  feet 
long,  are  scanty.  Of  the  attendant  buildings  there  only  remain  the  abbot's  kitch- 
en and  an  adjoining  gateway,  now  converted  into  an  inn.  This  kitchen  is  about 
thirty-four  feet  square  within  the  walls  and  seventy-two  feet  high.  The  church 
ruins  include  some  of  the  walls  and  tower-foundations,  with  a  well-preserved 
and  exceedingly  rich  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Joseph.  On  the  High  Street  is 
the  old  George  Inn,  which  was  the  hostelrie  for  the  pilgrims,  built  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  IV.  and  still  used.  It  is  fronted  by  a  splendid  mass  of  panelling, 
and  the  central  gateway  has  a  bay-window  alongside  rising  the  entire  height 
of  the  house.  The  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  Glastonbury  has  a  fine 
tower,  elevated  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  and  richly  adorned  with  canopied 
niches,  being  crowned  by  an  open-work  parapet  and  slender  pinnacles.  Almost 
the  entire  town  of  Glastonbury  is  either  constructed  from  spoils  of  the  abbey 
or  else  is  made  up  of  parts  of  its  buildings.  One  of  the  most  characteristic 
of  the  preserved  buildings  is  the  Tribunal,  now  a  suite  of  lawyers'  offices. 
Its  deeply-recessed  lower  windows  and  the  oriel  above  have  a  venerable 
appearance,  while  beyond  rises  the  tower  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Behind  the 
town  is  the  "Weary-all  Hill,"  from  which  arose  the  foundation  of  the  monas- 
tery. Tradition  tells  that  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  toiling  up  the  steep  ascent, 
drove  his  thorn  staff  into  the  ground  and  said  to  his  followers  that  they  would 
rest  there.  The  thorn  budded,  and  still  flowers,  it  is  said,  in  winter.  This  was 


408 


K.\GLA.\/). 


rc-.in.led  as  an  omen,  and  they  constructed  the  abbey  there  around  the  chapel 
of  St.  Joseph.      The  ponderous  abbot's  kitchen,  we  are  told,  was  built  by  the 

last  abbot,  who  boasted,  when  Henry 
VIII.  threatened  to  burn  the  monas- 
tery, that  he  would  have  a  kitchen  that 
all  the  wood  in  Mendip  Forest  could 
not  burn  down.  King  Arthur  was 
buried  at  Glastonbury,  and  a  veracious 
historian  in  the  twelfth  century  wrote 
that  he  was  present  at  the  disinterment 
of  the  remains  of  the  king  and  his  wife. 
"The  shin-bone  of  the  king,"  he  says, 
"  when  placed  side  by  side  with  that 
of  a  tall  man,  reached  three  fingers 
above  his  knee,  and  his  skull  was  fear- 
fully wounded."  The  remains  of  King 
Arthur's  wife,  which  were  quite  per- 
fect, fell  into  dust  upon  exposure  to 
the  air. 

S EDGE MOOR    BATTLEFIELD. 
Proceeding    westward    towards    the 
GLASTONBTOY  TRIBUNAL.  Bristol  Channel,   the  low  and  marshy 

plain  of  Sedgemoor  is  reached.  Much  of  it  is  reclaimed  from  the  sea,  and  here 
and  there  the  surface  is  broken  by  isolated  knolls,  there  being  some  two  hun- 
dred square  miles  of  this  region,  with  the  range  of  Polden  Hills  extending 
through  it  and  rising  in  some  places  three  hundred  feet  high.  In  earlier  times 
this  was  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  Cambridgeshire  fenland,  and  then,  we 
are  told, 

"  The  flood  of  the  Severn  Sea   flowed  O\XT  half  the  plain, 
And  a  hundred  capes,  with   huts  and  trees,   above  the  flood  remain  ; 
'Tis  water  here  and  water  there,  and  the  lordly  Parrett's  way 
Hath  never  a  trace  on  its  pathless   face,  as  in  the  former  day." 

It  is  changed  now,  being  thoroughly  drained,  but  in  the  days  of  the  Saxons 
the  river  Parrett  was  the  frontier  of  Wessex,  and  one  of  its  districts  sheltered 
Alfred  from  the  first  onset  of  the  Danish  invasion  when  he  retreated  to  the 
fastnesses  of  the  Isle  of  Athelney.  In  the  epoch  of  the  Normans  and  in  the 
Civil  War  there  was  fighting  all  along  the  Parrett.  After  the  defeat  at  Naseby 
the  Royalists,  under  Lord  Goring,  on  July  10,  1645,  met  their  foes  on  the  bank 


SEDGEMOOR   BATTLEFIELD. 


409 


of  the  Parrett,  near  Langport,  were  defeated  and  put  to  flight,  losing  four- 
teen thousand  prisoners,  and  the  king's  troops  never  made  a  stand  afterwards. 
Bridgwater  is  a  quiet  town  of  about  twelve  thousand  people  on  the  Parrett, 
a  half  dozen  miles  from  the  sea,  and  in  its  churchyard  reposes  Oldmixon,  who 
was  made  collector  of  customs  here  as  a  reward  for  his  abusive  writings,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  virulently  attacked  Pope.  The  poet  retorted  by  giving 


SEDGEMOOR,    FROM    COCK    HILL. 

Oldmixon  a  prominent  place  in  the  Dnnciad, 

where  at  a  diving-match  in  the  putrid  waters 

of  Fleet  Ditch,  which  "  rolls  the  large  tribute 

of  dead  dogs  to  the  Thames,"  the  heroes  are  bidden  to  "prove  who  best  can 

dash   through  thick  and  thin,  and  who  the  most  in   love  of  dirt  excel."     And 

thus   the   Bridgwater  collector: 

"  In  naked  majesty  Oldmixon  stands, 
And  Milo-like  surveys  his  arms  and  hands, 
Then  sighing  thus,   '  And  am   I  now  threescore  ? 
And  why  ye  gods  should  two  and  two  make  four  ?' 
He  said,  and  climbed  a  stranded  lighter's  height, 
Shot  to  the  black  abyss,  and  plunged   downright." 

In  the  Market  Inn  at  Bridgwater  Admiral  Blake  was  born,  who  never  held  a 
naval  command  until  past  the  age  of  fifty,  and  then  triumphed  over  the  Dutch 
and  the  Spaniards,  disputing  Van  Tromp's  right  to  hoist  a  broom  at  his  mast- 
head, and  burned  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  harbor  of  Santa  Cruz.  He  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  but  Charles  II.  ejected  his  bones.  Bridgwater 
is  now  chiefly  noted  for  its  bath  bricks,  made  of  a  mixture  of  clay  and  sand 
deposited  near  there  by  the  tidal  currents. 


410 


E.\i;i.AND,    PICTURESQUE  AND   DESCRIPTIVE. 


It  was  from  the  Bridgwater  church-tower  that  the  unfortunate  son  of  Charles 
II.  and  Lucy  Walters,  who  had  been  proclaimed  "King  Monmouth,"  looked  out 
upon  the  grassy  plains  towards  the  eastward  before  venturing  the  last  contest 
for  the  kingdom.  This  view  is  over  Seclgemoor,  the  scene  of  the  last  fight 
deserving  the  name  of  a  battle  that  has  been  fought  on  British  ground.  It  is 
a  long  tract  of  morass  lying  between  the  foot  of  the  Polden  Hills  and  the 
Parrett  River,  but  with  a  fringe  of  somewhat  higher  ground  along  the  latter, 
where  are  Weston  Zoyland,  Chedzoy,  and  Middlezoy,  each  a  hamlet  clustering 
around  its  old  church,  that  at  Weston  Zoyland  being  surmounted  by  an  attract- 
ive square  tower  over  one  hundred  feet 
high.  Monmouth  had  been  proclaimed 
king  by  the  mayor  and  corporation 
of  Bridgwater  June  21,  1685,  DL:t 
had  been  checked  at  Bath,  and  jjA 
fell  back  again  to  Bridgwater, 
where  his  army  was  encamp- 


WESTON    20YLAN1J    CHURCH. 


ed  on  the  Castle  Field.  He  had  been  three  weeks  in  the  kingdom  without 
marked  success,  and  the  royal  army  was  closing  in  upon  him.  Four  thou- 
sand troops  under  Lord  Feversham  marched  westward,  and  on  the  Sunday 
evening  of  July  51)1,  when  Monmouth  looked  out  from  the  tower,  had  encamped 
upon  Sedgemoor  about  three  miles  from  Bridgwater.  Monmouth  had  seven 
thousand  men  to  oppose  them,  but  his  forces  were  mostly  undisciplined  and 
badly  armed,  some  having  only  scythes  fastened  on  poles.  The  moor  was 
then  partly  reclaimed  and  intersected  by  trenches,  and  Feversham's  head- 
quarters was  at  Weston  Zoyland,  where  the  royal  cavalry  were  encamped, 


SEDGEUOOR   BATTLEFIELD.  41 


with  the  other  troops  at  Middlezoy  and  Chedzoy  beyond.  Monmouth  saw 
that  their  divisions  were  somewhat  separated,  and  that  his  only  hope  was  a 
night-attack.  At  midnight  he  started,  marching  his  army  by  a  circuitous  route 
to  the  royal  camp,  strict  silence  being  observed  and  not  a  drum  beaten  or  a 
shot  fired.  Three  ditches  had  to  be  crossed  to  reach  the  camp,  two  of  which 
Monmouth  knew  of,  but  he  was  unfortunately  ignorant  of  the  third,  called  the 
Sussex  Rhine,  behind  which  the  camp  had  been  made.  A  fog  came  down  over 
the  moor;  the  first  ditch  was  crossed  successfully,  but  the  guide  missing  his 
way  caused  some  confusion  before  the  second  was  reached,  during  which  a 
pistol  was  discharged  that  aroused  a  sentinel,  who  rode  off  and  gave  the 
alarm.  As  the  royal  drums  beat  to  arms  Monmouth  rapidly  advanced,  when 
he  suddenly  found  himself  checked  by  the  Bussex  Rhine,  behind  which  the 
royal  army  was  forming  in  line  of  battle  in  the  fog.  "  For  whom  are  you  ?"  de- 
manded a  royal  officer.  "  For  the  king,"  replied  a  voice  from  the  rebel  cavalry. 
-  For  what  king?"  was  demanded.  The  answer  was  a  shout  for  "  King  Mon- 
mouth," mingled  with  Cromwell's  old  war-cry  of  "  God  with  us!"  Immediately 
the  royal  troops  replied  with  a  terrific  volley  of  musketry  that  sent  the  rebel 
cavalry  Hying  in  all  directions.  Monmouth,  then  coming  up  with  the  infantry, 
was  startled  to  find  the  broad  ditch  in  front  of  him.  His  troops  halted  on  the 
edge,  and  for  three  quarters  of  an  hour  the  opposing  forces  fired  volleys  at 
each  other  across  the  ditch.  But  the  end  was  not  far  off.  John  Churchill  was 
a  subordinate  in  the  royal  army  and  formed  its  line  of  battle,  thus  indicating 
the  future  triumphs  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  Then  the  royal  cavalry 
came  up,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  rebels  were  routed,  and  Monmouth,  seeing 
all  was  lost,  rode  from  the  field.  His  foot-soldiers,  with  their  scythes  and  butt- 
ends  of  muskets,  made  a  gallant  stand,  fighting  like  old  soldiers,  though  their 
ammunition  was  all  gone.  To  conquer  them  the  artillery  were  brought  up,  for 
which  service  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  loaned  his  coach-horses.  The  cannon 
were  ill  served,  but  routed  the  rebels,  and  then  the  infantry  poured  over  the 
ditch  and  put  them  to  flight.  The  king  lost  three  hundred  killed  and  wounded; 
the  rebel  loss  was  at  least  a  thousand  slain,  while  there  was  little  mercy  for  the 
survivors.  The  sun  rose  over  a  field  of  carnage,  with  the  king's  cavalry  hack- 
ing and  hewing  among  their  fleeing  foes.  Monmouth,  with  one  or  two  fol- 
lowers, was  by  this  time  far  away  among  the  hills,  but  was  afterwards  captured 
in  the  New  Forest,  and  ended  his  life  on  the  scaffold.  The  Seclgemoor  carnage 
went  on  all  the  morning;  the  fugitives  poured  into  Bridgwater  with  the  pur- 
suers at  their  heels  ;  five  hundred  prisoners  were  crowded  into  Weston  Zoy- 
land  Church,  and  the  next  day  a  long  row  of  gibbets  appeared  on  the  road 
between  the  town  and  the  church.  Bridgwater  suffered  under  a  reign  of 


412 


,  ricTUREs<2t'i-;  AND  />/--.sr/vY/>  7 /;•/•;. 


terror  from  Colonel  Kirke  and  his  "  Lambs,"  who  put  a  hundred  prisoners  to 
death  during  the  week  following  the  battle,  and  treated  the  others  with  great 
cruelty.  Then  Judge  Jeffreys  came  there  to  execute  judicial  tortures,  and  by 
his  harsh  and  terrible  administration  of  the  law,  and  his  horrible  cruelties  and 
injustice,  gained  the  reputation  that  has  ever  since  been  execrated. 

Six  miles  south-east  of  Bridgwater  is  the  Isle  of  Athelney,  a  peninsula  in 
the  marsh  between  the  Parrett  and  the  Tone.  Here  King  Alfred  sought 
refuge  from  the  Danes  until  he  could  get  time  to  mature  the  plans  that  ulti- 
mately drove  them  from  his  kingdom.  It  was  while  here  that  the  incident  of 
the  burned  cakes  occurred.  The  king  was  disguised  as  a  peasant,  and,  living 
in  a  swineherd's  cottage,  performed  various  menial  offices.  The  good  wife 


•llll'.    1SLK    OF    ATHKI.NKY. 


left  him  in  charge  of  some  cakes  that  were  baking,  with  instructions  to  turn 
them  at  the  proper  time.  His  mind  wandered  in  thought  and  he  forgot  his 
trust.  The  good  wife  returned,  found  the  cakes  burning,  and  the  guest  dream- 
ing by  the  fireside  ;  she  lost  her  temper,  and  expressed  a  decided  opinion  about 
the  lazy  lout  who  was  ready  enough  to  eat,  but  less  ready  to  work.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  there  was  found  in  the  marshes  here  a  jewel  that  Alfred 
had  lost:  it  is  of  gold  and  enamel,  bearing  words  signifying,  "Alfred  had  me 
wrought."  The  following  spring  (878)  he  sallied  forth,  defeated  the  Danes  in 
Wiltshire,  and  captured  their  king  Guthram,  who  was  afterwards  baptized  near 
Athelney  by  the  name  of /Ethelstan  ;  they  still  show  his  baptismal  font  in  Aller 
Church,  near  by. 


SHERBORNE. 


SHERBORN  I£. 

Crossing  over  from  Somersetshire  into  Dorsetshire,  we  arrive  in  the  north- 
ern part  ot  that  county  at  Sherborne,  which  was  one  of  the  earliest  religious 
establishments  in  this 
part  of  England,  hav- 
ing been  founded  by 
King  Ina  in  the  eighth 
century.  Here  was  the 
see  that  was  removed 
to  Old  Sarum  in  the; 
eleventh  century,  and 
subsequently  to  Salis- 
bury. After  the  re- 
moval, Sherborne  be- 
came an  abbey,  and 
its  remains  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  parish 
church,  which  still  ex- 
ists, of  Norman  archi- 
tecture, and  having  a 
low  central  tower 
supported  by  massive 
piers.  The  porch  is 
almost  all  that  sur- 
vives of  the  original 
structure,  the  remain- 
der having  been  burn- 
ed in  1436,  but  after- 
wards restored.  With- 
in this  church  are 
buried  the  Saxon 
kings  /Ethelbald  and 
yEthelbert,  the  broth- 
ers of  King  Alfred.  SHKRHORXE. 

Such  of  the  domestic  buildings  of  the  abbey  as  have  been  preserved  are  now 
the  well-known  Sherborne  Grammar- School.  The  great  bell  of  the  abbey  was 
given  it  by  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  weighed  sixty  thousand  pounds.  It  bears 
this  motto  : 


4' 4  K. \CLA\D,  PICTURESQUE  Ai\D   DESCRIPTIVE. 

"  By  Wolsey's  gift  I  measure  time  for  all  ; 
To  mirth,  to  grief,  to  church,   I  serve  to  call." 

It  was  unfortunately  cracked  in  1858,  but  has  been  recast.  The  chief  fame  of 
Sherborne,  however,  is  as  the  home  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  of  whom  Napier 
says  that  his  "  fortunes  were  alike  remarkable  for  enviable  success  and  pitiable 
reverses.  Raised  to  eminent  station  through  the  favor  of  the  greatest  female 
sovereign  of  England,  he  perished  on  the  scaffold  through  the  dislike  and 
cowardly  policy  of  the  meanest  of  her  kings."  The  original  castle  of  Sher- 
borne was  built  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  and  its  owner  bestowed  it  upon  the 
bishopric  of  Old  Sarum  with  certain  lands,  accompanying  the  gift  with  a  per- 
petual curse  "  that  whosoever  should  take  these  lands  from  the  bishopric,  or 
diminish  them  in  great  or  small,  should  be  accursed,  not  only  in  this  world, 
but  in  the  world  to  come,  unless  in  his  lifetime  he  made  restitution  thereof." 
Herein  tradition  says  was  the  seed  of  Raleigh's  misfortunes.  King  Stephen 
dispossessed  the  lands,  and  gave  them  to  the  Montagues,  who  met  with  grievous 
disasters,  the  estate  ultimately  reverting  to  the  Church.  In  Edward  X'l.'s  reign 
Sherborne  was  conveyed  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  but  he  was  beheaded. 
Again  they  reverted  to  the  Church,  until  one  clay  Raleigh,  journeying  from 
Plymouth  to  London,  the  ancient  historian  says,  "the  castle  being  right  in  the 
way,  he  cast  such  an  eye  upon  it  as  Ahab  did  upon  Naboth's  vineyard,  and 
once,  above  the  rest,  being  talking  of  it,  of  the  commocliousness  of  the  place, 
and  of  the  great  strength  of  the  seat,  and  how  easily  it  might  be  got  from  the 
bishopric,  suddenly  over  and  over  came  his  horse,  that  his  very  face  (which 
was  then  thought  a  very  good  one)  ploughed  up  the  earth  where  he  fell.  This 
fall  was  ominous,  and  no  question  he  was  apt  to  consider  it  so."  But  Raleigh 
did  not  falter,  notwithstanding  the  omen.  He  begged  and  obtained  the  grant 
of  the  castle  from  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  then  married  Elizabeth  Throgmorton 
and  returned  there,  building  himself  a  new  house  surrounded  by  ornamental 
gardens  and  orchards.  He  settled  the  estate  ultimately  upon  his  son,  but  his 
enemies  got  King  James  to  take  it  away  and  give  it  to  a  young  Scotch  favorite, 
Robert  Carr,  afterwards  Earl  of  Somerset.  Lady  Raleigh  upon  her  knees, 
with  her  children,  appealed  to  James  not  to  do  this,  but  it  was  of  no  avail. 
The  king  only  answered,  "  I  mun  have  the  land  ;  I  mun  have  it  for  Carr."  She 
was  a  woman  of  high  spirit,  and  while  still  on  her  knees  she  prayed  God  to 
punish  those  who  had  wrongfully  exposed  her  and  her  children  to  ruin.  Carr 
met  with  constant  misfortunes,  being  ultimately  implicated  in  a  murder  and 
imprisoned.  James's  son  Charles,  afterwards  king,  aided  to  bring  Raleigh  to 
the  block,  while  the  widow  had  the  satisfaction  of  living  long  enough  to  be 
assured  that  Charles  would  meet  the  same  fate.  The  remains  of  the  castle 


77/7:    COAST  OF  DORSET.  4'5 


are  at  the  east  end  of  Sherborne,  covering  about  four  acres  on  a  rocky  emi- 
nence surrounded  by  a  ditch.  The  gate-tower  and  portions  of  the  walls  and 
buildings  still  exist.  The  house  that  Raleigh  built  is  now  called  the  "  Castle." 
and  has  since  had  extensive  wings  added  to  it,  with  a  fine  lake  between  it  and  the 
old  castle-ruins,  surrounded  by  attractive  pleasure-grounds  and  a  park.  This 
famous  estate  fell  into  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Digby,  and  is  now  a  home  oi 
G.  D.  \Vingfield  Digby,  Esq.,  being  a  popular  resort  in  the  hunting-season. 

THE    COAST    OF    DORSET. 

The  river  Avon  upon  which  Salisbury  stands — for  there  are  several  of  these 
Avon  Rivers  in  England — flows  southward  between  Dorsetshire  and  Hamp- 
shire, and  falls  into  the  Channel.  Westward  from  its  mouth  extends  a  line  of 
sandy  cliffs,  broken  by  occasional  ravines  or  chines,  past  Bournemouth  to  Poole 
Harbor,  a  broad  estuary  surrounded  by  low  hills  which  is  protected  by  a  high 
ridge  of  chalk  rocks  on  its  south-western  side  running  out  into  the  sea.  The 
sleepy  town  of  Poole  stands  on  the  shore,  having  dim  recollections  of  its  ships 
and  commerce  of  centuries  ago.  It  was  a  nursery  for  privateersmen,  and  many 
are  the  exploits  recorded  of  them.  It  was  also,  from  the  intricacy  of  its 
creeks  and  the  roving  character  of  its  people,  a  notorious  place  for  smuggling. 
Poole  is  an  old-fashioned,  brick-built  town,  with  a  picturesque  gateway  yet 
remaining  as  a  specimen  of  its  ancient  defences.  In  the  vale  of  the  Stour, 
which  here  debouches,  is  the  ancient  minster  of  Wimborne,  founded  in  the 
reign  of  King  Ina  by  his  sister,  and  containing  the  grave  of  the  Saxon  king 
^ithelred.  It  is  not  remarkable  excepting  for  its  age,  and  for  having  had  for  its 
dean  Reginald  Pole  before  he  became  a  cardinal.  The  ancient  and  shrunken 
town  of  YVareham  is  also  near  by,  having  had  quite  a  military  history,  but 
being  almost  destroyed  by  fire  in  1762,  from  which  it  never  recovered.  It  has 
now  but  three  churches  out  of  the  eight  it  originally  possessed,  and  of  these 
only  one  is  in  regular  use.  But  the  great  memory  of  this  part  of  the  coast  is 
connected  with  Corfe  Castle. 

The  so-called  Isle  of  Purbeck  is  near  Poole  Harbor,  and  the  ruined  castle  of 
Corfe  stands  in  a  narrow  gap  in  the  hills,  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  south: 
ern  part  of  this  island,  its  name  being  derived  from  ccorfan,  meaning  "  to 
cut,"  so  that  it  refers  to  the  cut  or  gap  in  the  hills.  Queen  /Elfrida  in  the 
tenth  century  had  a  hunting-lodge  here.  According  to  the  legend,  her  step- 
son, King  Edward,  was  hunting  in  the  neighborhood  and  stopped  at-the  door 
to  ask  for  a  drink.  It  was  brought,  and  as  he  raised  the  cup  to  his  lips  he 
was  stabbed  in  the  back — it  is  said  by  the  queen's  own  hand.  He  put  spurs 
to  his  .horse,  galloped  off,  fell,  and  was  dragged  along  the  road,  the  battered 


416 


A.\/>  j>i-:scK/rr/rr.. 


corpse  being  buried  at  Wareham.  The  queen  had  committed  this  murder  for 
the  benefit  of  her  youngest  son,  and  hearing  him  bewail  his  brother's  death, 
she  flew  into  a  passion,  and,  no  cudgel  being  at  hand,  belabored  him  so  stoutly 
with  a  large  wax  candle  that  he  could  never  afterwards  bear  the  sight  of  one. 


The  king's  remains  were  then  translated  to 
Shaftesbury,  miracles  were  wrought,  and  the 
queen,  finding  affairs  becoming  serious,  founded 
two  nunneries  in  expiation  of  the  murder,  to  one 
of  which  she  retired.  This  began  the  fame  of  the 
Isle  of  Purbeck,  although  the  present  Corfe  Castle 
was  not  built  till  the  twelfth  century.  It  was  attacked 
by,  but  baffled,  Stephen,  and  King  John  used  it  as  a 
royal  residence,  prison,  and  treasure-house.  Here  he 
starved  to  death  twenty-two  French  knights  who  had  been  partisans  of  his 
nephew  Arthur;  and  he  also  hanged  a  hermit  named  Peter  who  had  made 
rash  prophecies  of  his  downfall,  this  being  intended  as  a  wholesome  warning 


THE    COAST  OF  DORSET.  417 


to  other  unwelcome  prophets.  Its  subsequent  history  was  uneventful  until  the 
Civil  War,  when  it  was  greatly  enlarged  and  strengthened,  occupying  the  upper 
part  of  the  hill  overlooking  the  village.  Now  it  is  ruined  in  every  part:  the 
entrance-gateway  leans  over  and  is  insecure,  the  walls  are  rent,  and  the  towers 
shattered,  while  the  keep  is  but  a  broken  shell,  with  one  side  entirely  gone. 
This  destruction  was  done  in  the  Civil  War,  when  Corfe  was  held  for  King 
Charles.  In  1643,  when  the  owner,  Sir  John  Bankes,  was  absent,  the  castle 
was  attacked,  and  his  lady  hastily  collected  the  tenantry  and  some  provisions 
and  made  the  best  defence  she  could.  The  besiegers  melted  down  the  roof 
of  the  village  church  for  bullets,  and  approached  the  castle-walls  under  cover 
of  two  pent-houses  called,  respectively,  "the  Boar"  and  "the  Sow."  So  gall- 
ing a  fire,  however,  was  kept  up  by  the  defenders  that  they  were  driven  off, 
and  their  commander  with  difficulty  rallied  them  for  another  attack,  being  well 
fortified  with  "  Dutch  courage."  This  time  the  brave  little  garrison,